Kingdom Hearts: Radiant Dawn
by Moogle Empress
Summary: The tale of Kingdom Hearts is retold through the eyes of Sora's twin sister, Lucille. Like Sora, she had lived on Destiny Islands her whole life, but her ordinary life gets...unordinary when a mysterious storm sweeps over the islands, their lives will be nothing like they were before.
1. Episode 1: Destiny Islands

**Kingdom Hearts: Radiant Dawn**

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts! If I did, then I would have made an anime series! Really, that would be awesome, but Disney probably won't allow it. T.T

Another important announcement: This chapter had been cleaned and proof-read by the lovely Xxser3ndipityxX so it should be now more easier on the eyes to read. Thank you so much! ^0^

Note: Just to let you know, there will be OCs, so I hope that you enjoy their characters and how they contribute to the story. The story might be altered a bit to suit the new story devices and characters in order for them to develop, but the main story is more or less the same as the original game, so enjoy! =D

Also, there might be some spoilery things for Kingdom Hearts Unchained Back Cover, but nothing else, really. =3

Pairings: SoraXKairi, Past!AvaXGula (I don't know why, but I already ship those two so freaking much 3) OCXOC (There might be OCXRiku, but I haven't decided if I wanted to main that, so for now it's OCXOC. Or better yet, maybe a love triangle, oooh) =3

Genre: Romance/Adventure/Humor/Family/Friendship and, of course, totally Fantasy. =P

Summary: The tale of Kingdom Hearts is retold through the eyes of Sora's twin sister Lucille. Like Sora, she had lived on Destiny Islands her whole life, but her ordinary life gets...unordinary when a mysterious storm sweeps over the islands Their lives will be nothing like they were before.

* * *

 **Episode 1: Destiny Islands**

* * *

A young fourteen-year-old-girl slowly opened her eyes, the sun's rays blinding her for a moment. She used one arm to shade her eyes as they slowly started to sharpen and focus again. She found herself in her bedroom, where nothing was out of the ordinary. Her dreams, however, were another story.

Recently, she had been having very ominous recurring dreams that had been occurring every night for the last week, robbing her of a good night's sleep.

It was always the same. They involved herself, her brother Sora, their two best friends Riku and Kairi, a dark storm, and black creatures with freaky little eyes. This time, however, she had ended up in some sort of realm filled with stained glass platforms which were bordered by a void of darkness, within which-her personal favorite-a definitely-not-at-all-suspicious voice echoed and guided her through this weird place in her dreams.

She had woken up in the middle of the night last night, panicking since the dream almost felt too real. Thankfully, when she went back to sleep after being scared awake, she wasn't plagued by it again, but it did creep her out. What happened to the days when she dreamed happy, nice dreams that didn't involve those scary little black creatures with the glowing yellow eyes?

She yawned, sat up in bed and stretched her arms widely, still in her simple pink pajamas. "I really need to stop drinking paopu fruit juice before going to bed; I bet that's the culprit behind those nightmares."

Just as she fell back again on the bed and pulled the blanket over her head to block out the sun's rays...her door opened abruptly.

"Morning, Sis!" Sora beamed brightly, almost like the sun.

"Noooo...," she groaned. So much for sleeping in.

"Lucille? Are you alright?" Sora noticed his twin sister was hiding underneath the blankets and slowly approached her, checking to make sure she was alright.

"Morning, Sora. You know, it's rude to not knock on someone's door." The girl known as Lucille drew the blanket off her body, surrendering to her long, chocolate brown hair, disheveled and in desperate need of brushing.

"Sis, your bedroom is literally just across the hall from mine," Sora flatly stated. "Anyway, you look like you didn't get any sleep at all last night. Are you feeling okay?" Sora asked with concern, inspecting his sister's temperature.

Ah, her sweet twin brother…As much as they sometimes got on each other's nerves, when it came to caring about the other's well-being, Sora always looked out for her, just as Lucille would for Sora, even though she was technically the elder one by ten minutes.

"Sora, I'm fine. I'm not sick. I just had...a really weird dream," Lucille answered, taking Sora's hand away from her forehead.

"Oh...want to talk about it?"

She gave it some thought, but she then shook her head. "I'll be fine. Maybe it's just a phase."

"I'll tell Riku and Kairi that you'll be coming to the island later on today. I'll see you there," Sora told her with his trademark grin and hurried off.

That was Sora's way of saying, 'I'll tell the others you'll be late while you catch up on your sleep.' She smiled. Yup, Sora was always such a sweetheart when it came to his sister. Then again, she would spoil Sora a lot, too. Being twins, they had always been naturally very close with one another. It was like they were already best friends straight from birth-okay, that was probably an exaggeration, but the point was that Sora had been, for much of their childhood, very delicate with her, almost as if he was worried she would end up sick again like she used to be all the time as a child if they were too reckless.

Lucille wasn't that sick little girl anymore who would get bedridden, sometimes for months. Her body and immune system were much stronger now, but Sora probably still always had that fear that she would collapse any moment. Guess he still felt a lot of guilt for what happened seven years ago when she almost died…She never once blamed Sora or Riku for that; that was her own fault for acting so stubborn, but Sora obviously felt differently about it-hence why he becomes worried about her over the simplest of things.

She'd be lying if she said she didn't enjoy the attention, but Sora really didn't need to fret over her anymore. Just to be safe, though, she decided to take Sora up on his offer and catch up on the sleep that was robbed of her last night; she was going to need all the sleep she could get, considering, in two day's time, their raft would be finished.

* * *

It was early noon by the time Lucille fully awoke, got dressed and rowed over to the island where all the kids played.

Since she and Sora were identical twins, they had the same eye and hair colour, even the same sun-kissed skin. The only difference between them, besides the obvious—different genders and personalities-was that her chocolate brown hair was long enough to be tied up into a side ponytail that rested over her right shoulder. She wore a collared, blue, form-fitting vest with no sleeves and a sky-blue hoodie jacket over it. Accompanying the vest and hoodie were black, skin-tight shorts, underneath which were white leggings to cover her legs. She had fingerless gloves that reached just above her wrists and, finally, white and blue shoes. She carried around her neck an elegant, curved, heart-shaped necklace made from a material that she was unfamiliar with. It was probably some rare metal.

Her necklace appeared to make a matching pair with the one Sora owned. Their father was the one who bestowed the necklaces upon them. Sora received the crown counterpart while she had the heart counterpart. As he gifted them the necklaces, their dad then proceeded to recount some cryptic meaning behind the existence of the gifts: "Two keys of the same heart shall open the door."

"Pfft, what door?" Lucille recited his words and then rolled her eyes.

As she walked off the dock while carefreely waving at Selphie, Tidus and Wakka, who waved back as she passed, she found her brother, snoozing on the beach.

"And he says I'm the one that needs sleep," She snickered. It didn't take long for her to realize that Kairi was there as well.

"Yo, Kairi," Lucille greeted her softly, so she didn't wake up her brother.

Kairi noticed Lucille's arrival and happily waved to her. "Lucille! Good afternoon! Sora told us you've been having trouble sleeping lately, so he told you to sleep in." Kairi came over and hugged her best friend. "Do you feel okay? He said that you looked tired," Kairi then questioned.

"Kairi, you're as bad as Sora. I'm fine, really. Just been having some bad nights-everyone gets them. I'm sure they'll be gone in no time," Lucille reassured her, although, to be honest, she wasn't so confident about those dreams going away anytime soon.

"Still, you should let us know if you need a break," Kairi told her. Lucille really liked Kairi. She was a sweet girl, and it didn't take long for them to click, even though she was from another world. According to what everyone on the main island says, Kairi washed up on the beach the night after the meteor shower that occurred the night before. She had lost all her memories of her old world, so no matter how many times Riku would try to poke information out of her, he would get nothing from her.

Lucille had still been restricted to a bed by that point since she was still too weak to go outside. She remembered being really depressed and angry at herself about that, wanting to meet the strange new girl. She didn't meet Kairi until her body was strong enough to leave the house.

When Lucille was finally strong enough to be able to play outside with the other kids without worrying about her health, she and Kairi hung out with Sora and Riku most of the time, slowly but surely making them a circle of four close friends. Unlike Sora, she was more socially awkward around people due to her lack of human contact for a good chunk of her life, so Riku and Kairi were really the only people she felt close enough to to call friends.

"Heh heh, in any case, I've noticed that my dear brother is slacking off," Lucille smirked.

"Seems that way. I was about to wake him up. Do you mind if I do the honours?" Kairi smiled.

"Go ahead," Lucille smiled back and placed her hands behind her head in a carefree style.

That was when they saw Sora starting to stir. Kairi made her move as she slowly crept over to him, bending her upper body low enough so her head was positioned over Sora's.

With a start, Sora jumped up. "Whoa! Give me a break, Kairi!" Sora responded as Kairi laughed.

"Sora, you lazy bum. I knew I'd find you snoozing down here," Kairi teased.

"No! This huge...thing swallowed me up! I couldn't breathe, I couldn't-ow!" Sora started to explain fast pace, but Kairi gently knocked him on the head. "Are you still dreaming?"

"It wasn't a dream. Or was it? I don't know," Sora started to argue but then began to doubt himself on the dream.

"Wow, and I thought I was the one going through a creepy dream phase," Lucille chimed.

"Sis!" Sora then sat upwards on the sandy beach in a laidback fashion. "So you showed up today? I thought you'd still be at home."

"And have Riku complain about how I was shirking raft duty?" Lucille crossed her arms. "I could do without the bossy attitude he's been showing lately."

"Oh wow, so it isn't just me." Kairi seemed impressed.

"Huh?"

"Never mind." Kairi shook her head with a hopeless smile and took a few steps towards the ocean.

"Say Kairi, what was your hometown like? You know, where you grew up?" Sora asked curiously, although he already had an idea what her answer would be.

"I told you before, I don't remember anything." Kairi didn't look back but gazed out to the big blue horizon.

"Nothing at all?"

"Nothing."

"Would you ever want to go back?" Lucille wondered.

"Hmm...well, I'm happy here."

Lucille smiled at that. "Really?"

"But you know," Kairi continued. "I wouldn't mind going to see it."

"I would like to see it too, along with any other worlds out there. I want to see them all!" Sora added with an excited voice.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Kairi turned around and smiled.

In the corner of her eye, Lucille saw a familiar silverette approaching with a log under one of his arms. "Hey, aren't you forgetting about me?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, who are you again?" Lucille teased.

"I see the slacker showed up," Riku retorted. "So, I guess I'm the only one working on the raft." Riku shrugged before throwing a log over to Sora, who had not been prepared for that log, so it landed on his body.

"And you two are just as lazy as he is," Riku then said, turning to the two girls.

"Hee hee, so you noticed." Kairi giggled.

"We'll finish it together, then~! What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Lucille punched the air.

"Says the one who spent all morning in bed." Riku rolled his eyes.

"Riku, I told you the reason-" Sora started to defend his sister.

"I know, Sora," Riku stopped him midway.

"Don't worry, Sora, that power nap really did wonders for me. I'm ready to take on whatever slavery Riku dishes out at me," Lucille reassured her twin.

"Slavery?" Riku's eye twitched.

"C'mon, let's go. I'll race you," Kairi challenged.

"What? Are you kidding?"

"Ready...Go!"

With that, the four friends raced from one side of the island over to the cove where their raft was hidden away.

* * *

While Sora had gone off to gather the things Kairi tasked for him, and Riku had wandered off to the islet, Kairi and Lucille were left with time for a nice girl talk.

"Hey, Lucille. Can I ask you something?" Kairi asked softly while crafting her small lucky charm made from seashells.

"Sure, what is it?" Lucille asked as she tied some of the logs together with some rope.

"Do you think Riku has changed?"

"Riku? Hmm...Well, I have noticed he's gotten more closed off from all of us. Makes me kinda miss the old Riku. At least he wasn't such a smarmy jerk back then like he is now," Lucille answered.

"Heh heh. What was it like with you three before I came here?"

"To be honest, I'm not sure if I'm the best person to ask. I spent a huge half of my childhood in bed due to my poor health." Lucille shook her head. "Sora and Riku would spend time with me, though, if they were playing at our house, but I wasn't allowed to go outside or visit Riku's home, even if Sora was there with him."

"...That...must have been lonely." Kairi gave her a look of sympathy.

"Ah, it's okay. I admit I was pretty bitter about myself back then. I hated the fact that I was stuck to the bed because everyone was worried I would kill myself if I pushed my body too much." Lucille shook her head.

"I think Sora said you had a weak body, right?" Kairi recalled

"Yeah, apparently, I was born with a pretty frail body, so whenever I caught colds or fevers, they would end up being really bad cases. I was told it could take years before I was strong enough to go with the other kids to the playground island. So I missed out on a lot of interaction with most of the island kids."

"So besides Sora and Riku, none of the other kids ever knew about you until seven years ago?" Kairi blinked.

"I'm sure they'd heard of me from Sora." Lucille shook her head. "But I don't think I could fit in with them now."

"Sora and Riku were really the only two who would take time to hang out with me, even if they had to spend all day in a girl's bedroom." Lucille smiled at the memory.

"I can't imagine Riku being in a girl's bedroom for that long." Kairi smiled.

"Hahaha, he probably wouldn't now. He was really nice back then to me. I think ever since the incident seven years ago, he's gradually distanced himself away from me. I'm not sure why, though." Lucille wondered.

"Oh...maybe...he felt just as guilty as Sora for what happened to you back then." Kairi smiled sadly.

Lucille recalled that time. Seven years ago, Sora and Lucille's parents had to go away to another residential island for a check-up visit for one of their mother's patients, as she was the island doctor of the main island. So she managed to convince Sora and Riku to help her outside, so she could go out and play with them rather than stay indoors.

It took a lot of work, but she managed to convince the two. They decided to stay on the main island due to Lucille's weak condition but went to play near the ocean. However, Lucille had not spent a lot of time on her legs since she was bedridden, so they felt very weak when she tried to walk or run. Then came the incident. A rogue wave had made her lose her footing and fall underneath the ocean waves. Because her body was so weak, she could not fight against the waves to reach the surface. She had begun to panic as she found it harder to keep the air inside of herself. She didn't know what happened while panicking, but as she was starting to lose consciousness as the water began to fill her lungs, something or someone appeared and saved her, pulling her out of the ocean and back onto the safety of the sandy beach. That someone performed CPR on her and was able to force her to cough out the water from her lungs. She never knew who it was, though, that saved her life

Riku had gone to get his parents while Sora stayed with her, apologising over and over again. Lucille had felt awful for causing so much trouble for the two of them when their parents returned. They had scolded the pair so harshly. Lucille had ended up going to her mom's local clinic to recover since her body had gone into total shock. There was a serious fear that she would die if the response was too late to save her, as her body had been very weak already on top of the accident…

She...really didn't know how or why, but somehow, by some miracle, she survived the incident with her life. Strangely enough, her body slowly but gradually became stronger and healthier till it was strong enough for her to finally to be allowed to go outside without being constantly watched.

She had no idea what brought about the sudden speed of recovery, but whatever it was she was thankful that her body had gotten stronger since then. Now that she thought about it, she could have sworn when she was still in that clinic bed, going in and out of consciousness, that she saw someone bathed in light watching over her and whispering words that she couldn't hear. She passed it off as a delusion she made up while she was wrought with pain and shock at the time.

"That wasn't their fault, though. I was the one that told them to take me outside and play near the ocean with them. I was stubborn. I wanted to go outside and play just like the other kids could. So if anything, it's my own fault for not knowing my own limits."

"Well, at least you're here now and not confined to a bed anymore." Kairi decided to change the subject with a friendly joke.

"You can say that again." Lucille nodded in agreement. Seriously, it had been a dream come true when her mother had finally told her that she could go outside and play. After ten years of her life indoors, she took every chance she could get to go outside to catch up on those lost years compared to the other kids on the island.

"Hey, Lucille. If I told you that...I liked your brother, what would you say?" Kairi asked quite suddenly.

"Wait...Like as in...that kind of like?" Lucille blinked.

"No! I mean...maybe…," Kairi countered quickly, her cheeks faintly burning red, before sighing. "...Yes?"

"Just as I thought." Lucille had a smug look on her face.

"You knew?"

Lucille didn't want to rat out the fact that she knew Sora obviously had a huge crush on Kairi-her brother was so easy to read, after all. So she decided to bluff.

"I'm a girl too, you know. I've totally researched on this kind of stuff...through Mom's old romance novels," Lucille answered. It wasn't exactly a lie; she definitely read her mom's old novels...Some of them were...really corny and cliche. Her dad must have had a field day teasing her mom about her collection. Of course, her mom would then punish him by putting him on the couch for the night for teasing her.

Kairi laughed softly. "Lucille, you read up on romance novels?"

"Hey, I was stuck to a bed. Reading was pretty much all I could do that didn't set off alarm bells on my mom's owl watch over me." Lucille sighed.

"Heh, fair enough," Kairi stood corrected.

"Anyways, don't worry Kairi, you won't hear any arguments from me. And no, I won't tell Sora."

Kairi smiled brightly. "Thanks. I kind of already knew that you'd keep it a secret, but it's still a relief to know."

"So, you plan on telling him this anytime soon? Or are you going to wait till Sora admits defeat first?" Lucille questioned with a cat-like grin.

"You really expect Sora to be the first one to confess?" Kairi giggled.

"...Okay, you make a fair argument. This is Sora we're talking about here. He's hopeless at this kind of stuff." Lucille nodded.

"I already know how Sora feels. He always wears his heart on his sleeve, so it wasn't hard for me to figure out what he feels, even when he tries to hide it." Kairi admitted. "That's what makes Sora so loveable, though."

"So why wait? If you already know how he feels by just reading his face, just tell him you feel the same." Lucille tilted her head in confusion.

"Ah, sweet innocent little Lucille~ It's not that easy, trust me. Once you fall in love with someone, I think you'll understand too," Kairi teased, playfully poking her best friend.

Lucille pouted. True, she never got to that point in her life where she felt anything romantic towards someone, but then again, she hadn't really had enough interaction with people to feel any special feelings like the ones her mom would gush about when talking about her dad. Well, okay, there was Riku, who was the closest male friend she had that wasn't her twin brother, but they were just best friends, right? There's nothing odd about that.

"In a way, this lucky charm I'm making, I was planning on giving to Sora, sort of as an attempt to hint at my feelings for him. Chances are he'll still not figure it out." Kairi showed her still incomplete charm, but it was nearly done by the looks of it. "That's okay, though. I hope that this charm protects him, no matter what happens once we set sail. That's all I ask of it." Kairi smiled warmly.

Lucille also smiled. "Sora's lucky. Riku and I don't get any charms? I'm hurt." She faked a hurt tone.

Kairi playfully punched her shoulder. "You have my undying friendship, is that good enough?"

"Eh, close enough." Lucille teased back, causing the both of them to laugh at their playful banter.

When they heard the entrance to the cove open, they saw Riku, who entered inside.

"Hi, Riku. Thought you did your share of the work today?" Lucille said as she waved.

"I did, but I came to see what you two were doing." Riku crossed his arms.

"Just having some girl talk," Kairi answered, putting the charm away. "I'll go keep an eye out for Sora. I'm sure he'll return soon. You two have fun talking~" Kairi stood up and gave a teasing smile to Lucille and Riku before running off.

"What was that meant to mean?" Riku raised an eyebrow.

"I have no idea." Lucille shrugged. "So to what do I owe the privilege of your presence?" Lucille questioned as she finished the last of her work for the day, then stood up with a jump.

"Sora said you've been struggling to sleep lately. Is something troubling you? Is it about getting cold feet about visiting other worlds on the raft?"

"Of course not!" Lucille hotly retorted. She saw that Riku looked a little surprised by the outburst and sighed. "Sorry, that came out wrong. No, it's nothing like that. Just some really weird dreams lately. I'm sure they'll pass." Lucille shook her head.

"So you're still coming?" Riku asked.

"Yup, someone has to keep Sora out of trouble when we see other worlds." Lucille smirked.

Riku shared a rare smile and looked out at the stretching ocean in front of them. "That's good. And true, knowing Sora, he'll end up probably slacking off even on another world."

"I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't miss this place," Lucille added.

"I'm not so sure if I would say the same thing." Riku shook his head.

"Hm? What do you mean?" Lucille asked curiously.

"Hey~! Riku! Lucille!" Sora's voice broke the short silence between the two, and they both turned to see the brunette boy running towards them along with Kairi.

"Sora! Did you get everything we need for today?" Lucille said as she waved.

"Yup, Tidus and the others stopped me halfway wanting to duel me." Sora nodded, showing off all the various materials he had gathered from Kairi's list.

"Did you lose to them?" Riku smirked.

"I won actually. Even when it was three against one, thanks," Sora huffed as he hotly retorted.

"Riku, be nice. He did his share of work today, so you have no grounds to complain," Lucille scolded.

"Fine, whatever." Riku rolled his eyes.

"..." Sora stared at the both of them and blinked a few times in surprise.

"What?" Riku raised an eyebrow at Sora's expression.

"You okay, Sora?" Lucille asked with concern.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Anyway, here's the rest of the stuff we needed for the raft." Sora dropped a ragged white cloth, some rope and a few more sturdy looking logs.

"Okay, I'm impressed. You can make an effort, after all," Riku stated.

"Oh, shut up," Sora barked back.

"So, should we leave this till tomorrow then? The sun's going to go down soon. Let's go to our hangout spot before going back home." Kairi suggested.

"Sure, we might actually have the raft done by tomorrow by the looks of things." Riku looked at the raft to analyze the progress they had made on it. It was almost seaworthy. All that was left now was adding the sail and gathering some food supplies.

"Already? Wow, time flies." Lucille whistled. "Okay, race you to the hangout spot! Last one there has to eat a paopu fruit with Sora!" Lucille beamed brightly, making a head-start.

"Hey, you cheater, get back here!" Kairi laughed and followed after the other girl.

"Hey! Don't bring me into this, Sis!" Sora's eyes widened in horror. When Kairi and Lucille were no longer in earshot, Sora turned to Riku with a curious look.

"What? Shouldn't you start running after them? Unless you want to share a Paopu fruit with me?" Riku teased, slapping Sora's head lightly.

Sora shivered at the thought and ran after the two girls, with Riku just walking behind, not really bothered about if he ended up last place.

* * *

"Aw, you're boring, Riku. Where's your sense of fun?" Lucille playfully asked, poking Riku's arm with a teasing smirk plastered on her face. She had been leaning back on the bending half of the paopu tree next to where Riku was standing up while leaning on the trunk, Sora and Kairi sitting on the thick branch.

"No thanks, I don't want to end up dealing with the lazy bum over there for all eternity."

"I'm right here, you jerk!" Sora fought back.

"So, Kairi's home is out there somewhere, right?" Lucille decided to change the topic after having her fill of teasing the silverette.

"Could be. We'll never know by just staying here," Riku answered, still looking out over the setting sun that turned the ocean into an orange-pinkish shade.

"But how far could a raft take us?" Sora questioned.

"Who knows?" Riku shrugged. "If we have to, we'll think of something else."

"Like what? Swim?" Lucille smirked.

"You'll be the first to drop dead then." Riku threw in a snarky remark.

"Hey, that was years ago! I'm totally as fit as a fiddle now." Lucille puffed her chest out proudly.

"So, suppose you get to another world? What would you do there?" Kairi asked a question of her own.

"Hmm..." Riku started, "Well, I haven't really thought about it. It's just...I've always wondered why we're here on this island. If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one?"

"Um...divine providence?" Lucille suggested innocently.

"Lucille, I'm being serious." Riku gave her a serious look. "And suppose there are other worlds..." Riku continued. "Then ours is just a little piece of something much greater."

"..." Lucille wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"So, we could have just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?" Riku then asked a question of his own.

"I don't know." Sora shrugged and then rested his back on the tree with his hands behind his head.

"Exactly." Riku nodded. "That's why we need to go out there and find out. Just sitting here won't change a thing. It's just the same old stuff. So, let's go."

"You've been thinking a lot lately, haven't you?" Kairi turned to Riku.

"Thanks to you. If you hadn't come here, I probably would've never thought of any of this. Kairi, thanks," Riku uttered to the red-haired girl.

"Heh, you're welcome." Kairi smiled sadly.

Lucille continued to look beyond the horizon, wondering what other worlds were indeed waiting for them out there. What Riku said, though, worried her a little. Maybe she was just overthinking things.

Soon it was time for them to go back to the main island before it got too dark. While Sora and Riku lagged behind to talk about something, she walked alongside Kairi towards the docks.

"You okay, Lu? You seem to be lost in thought," Kairi asked with concern for her close friend.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks. Just kinda been thinking about what Riku said eariler. He just came off as a little cold when talking about Destiny Islands. I know it's not an exciting place, but it's the place we were born and grew up in. You'd think he'd show a little honesty and say he'd miss the place, too." Lucille wondered.

"I'm sure he will, Lucille. Riku's just been more secretive with how he feels about things recently." Kairi smiled and patted her back.

"Heh, you're right. I'm probably just thinking way more deeply than I should." Lucille shook her head of her depressing thoughts. "So, Kairi...like my little idea with the paopu? You should have lost on purpose." Lucille teased.

"Heh heh, oh yeah, you were subtle, alright. To be honest, though, I think it's best to just let things take their natural course." Kairi giggled.

"Aw, so I can't help anymore?" Lucille pouted.

"Heh heh, sorry, it's more romantic this way." Kairi winked.

"Okay, okay, no more involvement." Lucille sighed in defeat.

"You know, I've been wondering, do you think that Riku has a soft spot for you?" Kairi wondered thoughtfully.

"Eh? Not...really. He's treated me as he normally does. I do kinda miss the days when Riku would tell Sora or me about things. We never kept any secrets from each other, but nowadays, it seems everyone is doing just that. It's a little scary to think about." Lucille expressed.

"So you've been thinking a lot, too, huh?" Kairi softly smiled. "It's just that...when Riku looks at you sometimes, I see something there. Not sure what it is, though."

"Huh?" Lucille looked puzzled. Had Riku been looking at her differently? She hadn't really noticed.

"And just what are you two talking about behind my back?" Riku's voice made them both jump from the boy's sudden appearance.

"Why, Riku? Why would you ever say that?" Kairi smiled innocently.

"Just girl stuff, you wouldn't be interested." Lucille defended Kairi. "What were you talking about with my brother, anyway?" Lucille tilited her head.

"Ask him yourself," Riku brushed off and continued onwards to the dock.

"Geez, would it hurt to give me an honest answer?" Lucille grumbled.

"Sis! Kairi! Ready to go home?" Sora waved to both of the girls as he approached them.

"Yup, tomorrow we've got a busy day, so, Lucille, no oversleeping~" Kairi playfully poked.

"I make no promises." Lucille playfully poked back. With that, the three followed Riku to the remaining three boats and rowed all the way back to the main island, before the sun sank into the ocean entirely.

* * *

Night time had fallen over the islands, and, by now, most of the residents were fast asleep. At times like this, Lucille really envied the fact her brother could sleep through anything.

They spent most of the evening eariler just talking about all the things they planned on doing when they left on their raft in search of other worlds. Sora had always been an explorer at heart, so he would probably want to see as many worlds as he could.

When it came time for them to go bed, they wished each other good night, and she promised him that she would wake up on time tomorrow.

In the darkness of her room, with nothing but the rays of moonlight from her window to luminate the bedroom, she lifted a wooden sword in one hand in the air as she lost herself in her thoughts.

While she was nowhere near as skilled as Riku or Sora, who had been sparring with each other with toy swords since they were children, she still did her best to learn how to fight with a sword herself, in case, when they did find other worlds, she'd be able to protect herself and her friends alongside them.

Of course, if it came to a duel against Riku or her twin brother, she would lose rather miserably to them. Still, she felt confident enough that she could fight in her own corner if needed. Her forte lies in her knowledge. Thanks to being bedridden for a large part of her childhood, she had read countless books to kill time. It was mostly children stories at first. Gradually, as she got older, she upgraded to more difficult books which normally would be read by an adult, not a child. She also managed to somehow find her mother's secret collection of romance novels. Who knew their mom was such a romantic when she was their age?

Either way, she gained much knowledge from those books. Hopefully, all that knowledge would be put to good use when they go out and find other worlds beyond their island home.

Her thoughts went back to Riku and what he had said eariler. She was probably overreacting, but back then, she felt really hurt by that statement. Sure, the islands were small and they'd probably explored every inch of their world, but this was still their home, a beautiful world filled with a warm light, on which they were surrounded by people who loved them and she loved dearly.

So to hear an opinion like Riku's from someone she cared about, it almost sounded as if he had taken their world for granted. She was probably overthinking it all and misunderstanding Riku's words, but, at the time, that's how they came across to her.

With a sigh, she placed the wooden sword next to her bedside window, pulled the covers over herself, and closed her eyes, trying to enter the world of dreams and leave these thoughts behind to ponder over tomorrow.

"Stupid Riku...Why can't you be more honest with us?" She muttered quietly as sleep finally laid claim over her consciousness, and she left the world of reality behind.

* * *

And so ends the first chapter. Did you guys enjoy it? =3

I hope that this chapter is one of many to come. I had this story brewing in my mind for a while now, so I have a rough idea how the first few chapters will go. Sorry if the first chapter seemed a little rushed. I kinda wanted to get the pilot chapter out of the way, so I can plan out how the next two chapters are going to go. =3

I hope that you will continue to read this story and enjoy the tale as it unfolds.

So, until next chapter, happy reading, folks! Moogle Empress out!

Moogle: Kupo!


	2. Episode 2: Night Of Fate

**Episode 2: Night Of Fate**

* * *

"AHHH!" Lucille jumped as she was startled awake, and, in her panic, she fell rather ungracefully face-first on the wooden floor of her bedroom.

"Owww...my face..." She groaned in pain and sat upright. She had that creepy dream of hers again. This time it felt more real, and that's what concerned her. The dreams were really starting to worry her now. As she rubbed her eyes to clear them of any sleep crust, she saw two feet on the ground that looked unusual to her.

She looked up to see a very strange sight. A small boy who appeared to be only around ten was looking at her with inquisitive and curious, golden eyes. He had short, messy blonde hair that only went down halfway to his neck and framed his face, with snow white tips at the ends and a single strand of hair standing like a curled antenna.

He wore a white tunic robe with a swallow-tailed cut and puffy sleeves that extended down until they reached the cuffs at the ends, which had the insignia of an angelic wing on them. He had grey shorts along with white socks that went up to his knees with white slip-on shoes. He wore nothing on his hands, which looked so small and delicate. The small boy gave a genuine look of concern.

"Huh?" Lucille blinked and replied. She was really confused right now. "Who are you? And how did you get in my room?"

"Wait...You can see me? So I was right, you're-" The boy gasped and took a few steps back.

When they heard the door being knocked on, the boy looked panicked and disappeared into thin air just as quick as he appeared.

"Huh? Hey wait! You didn't answer anything!" Lucille flailed but soon stopped when she saw her brother entering.

"Are you okay, Sis? It sounded like you were having a fight with yourself," Sora asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, Sora! Hahahaha! It's nothing, just a really bizarre dream that I had. Probably my most vivid one yet." Lucille tried to laugh off the awkwardness of the scene Sora was probably seeing.

"You're telling me." Sora blinked but chose to believe her. "Since you're up, we'll go to the island together. After all, we still need to finish off the raft," Sora uttered, beaming.

"Oh yeah! The raft! Give me five!" Lucille jumped to her feet, ushering her brother out of the room and closing her door. Afterwards, she began to get changed out of her pajamas into the same clothes she wore yesterday. Who was that strange little boy? She then shook her head and just assumed it was her wild imagination…or perhaps a lingering part of the nightmare she had?

'It's got to be just a figment of my imagination. Yeah, that's got to be it.' Lucille attempted to convince herself that it was an illusion she had seen. She really hoped that these awful dreams would pass soon. She was starting to lose her grip on reality.

Once changed and freshened up in the bathroom, she left the room and followed Sora downstairs for breakfast. She tried to push the bizarre encounter out of her mind. She was positive that she had just imagined that boy. Surely that was it.

* * *

The rest of the morning and early afternoon went rather productively. Sora and Lucille met up with Riku and Kairi and began their final preparations for their departure tomorrow. The raft itself was more or less ready to be used. It was just the rations and extra supplies they needed.

Lucille was put on coconut and paopu fruit collecting duty. Despite their delicate surface, paopu fruits could last for a good three weeks if you knew how to preserve them, which Lucille knew thanks to her days of reading through countless survival and medical books during her time being literally stuck to a bed.

She was practically a walking encyclopedia now, so, in hindsight, turns out being stuck in the house for ten years did have its silver lining after all, especially now that all that knowledge would be put to good use once they reached the other worlds.

She had finished gathering coconuts into a fishnet bag that she had 'borrowed' from her dad's shed and was now on her way to gather paopu fruit with the other fishnet bag she had on her.

When she arrived on the islet where the paopu fruit grew in abundance, she froze in shock when she saw a familiar small boy there. He picked up one of the lone fallen fruits from the tree with a happy look on his face.

"Hey, you're that kid from this morning!" Lucille hurried over so that he didn't try to escape again.

The boy jumped and glanced back to see the same girl that he had tried to help earlier this morning. "Ahhh! I'm sorry!" He quickly apologised and ran past her without stopping.

"Huh? Wait! Get back here! You're not escaping this time!" She called out. She dropped the two fishnets off near the tree for now. She was certain no one would steal from them; this was Destiny Islands, for crying out loud.

With that, she chased after the boy, determined to get some answers from him.

* * *

She had followed the boy all the way into the Secret Place. She'd been here a few times before with her brother and Riku. She wondered if Kairi had ever been here yet. Most of the time it was by herself when she visited this place. There was a strange sense of tranquility and calm here that she enjoyed, especially with the sounds of the ocean waves echoing against the walls.

Over the years, many scribbles had been left on the walls, all drawn by the hands of children. She, unfortunately, had not had a chance to place her mark on these walls when she was that age due to her childhood condition, but it was pretty amusing to see what a child's imagination was capable of.

She remembered that Sora told her that he had done a few pictures here as a child, but he had no idea who did all the other scribbles. And there was the most glaring part of this place, a big wooden door with a curved arch that had no knob or keyhole. Of course, she, Sora, and Riku all tried to get the door open, but it just wouldn't budge no matter what they did.

So they just left it to their wild imaginations as to what awaited on the other side of the door. She noticed a scribble near it that showed the faces of two people that Lucille knew right away.

"Huh. I take it this was one of Sora's drawings. So the other one...is Kairi's?" Lucille wondered. If so, that answered her earlier question of whether or not Kairi had come to this place before.

"Heh, well, they're no artists, but I'd still give an A for effort. The best I can draw is stick people, so who am I to judge?" Lucille laughed. That was when Lucille saw that a part of the drawing had fresh chalk still on the rock's wall. Had Sora or Kairi been here earlier? Either way, there was now an arm (or rather, the person's attempt of drawing an arm) outstretched with a star-shaped object in the drawing's hand.

"Geez, you guys are totally not subtle." Lucille rolled her eyes, but she still found it endearing. That was when she saw the small boy again, who was hiding away in a small corner of the cave.

"There you are! Would you stop running?! All I want is some answers!" Lucille shouted.

The boy looked scared and crawled into what looked like a hole that led into a new area of the cave.

"No way, there's another room in this place? Gah, I'll worry about that later. Right now, I need to catch that little squirt." Lucille shook her head and crouched down to crawl through the hole as well.

She had been a little concerned that she would be too big, but it turned out the hole was big enough to allow her to crawl through fine. Once she reached the new clearing, she was awed by what she saw.

There was a waterfall that fell into a small lake, and the sunlight from the canopy of trees that overlapped the ceiling made the water glitter. She also saw more scribbles of pictures carved into the wood and littered all over the tree bark walls, all illustrating things both familiar and unfamiliar to her. The ground was also grassy compared to the area she had just come from. Was she...inside the base of that giant tree that was next to the cave?

"Wow...this place is beautiful! I'm surprised Sora and Riku never found it!" Lucille's smile widened excitedly as she twirled around looking at the entire room. In one part of the corner she saw what looked like a makeshift flower bed of sorts. Growing there was Lucille's favorite flower.

"A paopu flower? But...they don't bloom until later in the summer season." Lucille looked puzzled, but she walked closer to the flower bed and just gazed adoringly at the flower.

She'd loved this flower ever since she was a little girl. It was a light-yellow flower with the inner petals being completely white and shaped just like the paopu fruit (hence its name). They bloomed rather late in the summer, and they were almost impossible to cultivate and grow indoors. They even had a meaning in the language of flowers-'Dearly Beloved'.

Their aroma is very sweet, and it's said that they have healing properties that can be used in medicine to cure high fevers and otherwise fatal illnesses. They were highly cherished by the islanders, as those tiny flowers hold the power to save so many lives. So, by order of the mayor, only the island doctors were allowed to take the paopu flowers when they were in bloom, so they could make medicine and save it for when it was needed.

Her mother gave her one as a gift when she was little. She deeply cherished that flower. She looked after it in a flower pot on her bedside window and made sure to water and talk to it every day when she was alone in her room, but it eventually wilted and died.

Lucille remembered that she was very sad and even cried over the flower's death, but her mom told her that all living things have hearts, even flowers, so it was probably time for the flower's heart to return to where all hearts go. But no matter where it went, it would always remember the kind heart that watered and loved it every day.

Even their mom didn't know where exactly those hearts went when it was their time to leave, but those words have stuck with Lucille ever since.

So...who was the one growing a bunch of paopu flowers inside this hallowed out tree?

"Oh, you... like paopu flowers too?" The boy looked curious and slowly walked closer.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, they're my favorites. I see you've decided to stop running away from me. I'm really surprised that you managed to grow your own when a lot of the local islanders can't even do it. Do you...live here by yourself?" Lucille turned her head in the direction of the boy.

"Heh heh, I'm pretty good with my hands. Hmmm...I guess you could say that, but I don't mind. No one can see me, anyway," The boy answered.

"What? How is that possible? I can see you as clear as day. Wait...you aren't a ghost or something, are you?"

"Nope!" The boy shook his head with a smile. "It's just...we're very hard to see with naked eyes. Apparently, only those with high sensitivity in their hearts and those who carry...er...a certain weapon can see us."

"Huh...Wait...so chances are that none of my friends can see you?" Lucille asked.

The boy nodded. "That's how it usually works. I'm sorry."

"Well, guess I can't tell my friends about this then. Oh well." Lucille gave a lopsided smile.

"I'm sorry," The boy then apologised out of nowhere.

"Why are you apologising? Are you talking about when I found you in my room?" Lucille blinked.

"Was it wrong? Are you mad at me? It looked like you were having a bad nightmare. So I wanted to help soothe it away, but...it was a lot stronger than I expected. So I thought just standing near you would work, but...then you cried out in your sleep, so...I forced you to wake up. I'm sorry." He bowed.

'So that's why I ended up falling off my bed this morning. I had a feeling that bizarre nightmare I had ended abruptly for no reason.' Lucille pondered. 'I should be thankful that he helped to wake me from that awful dream. Still, it's impolite to enter a girl's room uninvited, though.'

She bent down on both of her knees to the small boy's level with a soft smile. "No, I'm not mad. I didn't mean to yell at you this morning. I'm sorry about that. Still, you really shouldn't enter people's rooms without asking. It's not very polite. I'm grateful that you were trying to help me, though, so I'll let it slide this time." She gently patted his head.

"Really? Okay, I'll ask next time." The boy looked relieved and nodded his head in earnest.

"So...is this like your secret hideout?" Lucille then looked around the clearing again and teased.

"Hideout?" The boy tilted his head.

"You know, something like a sanctuary for you? A special place that only you know," Lucille defined.

"Oh! Yeah, I really like this place, especially when the ocean waves lull in the night with all the stars shining in the sky like little balls of light!" He excitedly replied.

"Sounds like it from the way you describe it." Lucille beamed. "My name's Lucille, by the way. What's your name? Don't think I've seen you before until now," She then introduced herself.

"Me? My name is Florian! Nice to meet you," The boy called Florian brightly replied back. This was probably the closest thing the kid had had to an actual conversation with someone, given the fact that, apparently, Florian cannot be seen by just any human. It had to be someone who met either of the two requirements, according to Florian. Lucille could relate to that in a way due to her own inexperience with people besides her parents, her twin brother, and their two best friends.

"I'm usually on this island. I'm not allowed to interact with any humans, though. We have to protect the world order," Florian answered.

"World Order? Wait, why would Destiny Islands need a bunch of rules to follow?"

"I can't say. He says I'm not allowed to talk about that stuff. He'll be angry with me if I disobey." He felt saddened that he had to hide information like this, especially when it came to this person.

Who's 'he'?" Lucille questioned.

"I'm not allowed to say that either." Florian shook his head.

"No offense, but the guy in charge is a total control freak." Lucille puffed out her cheeks.

"Oh, he does means well. He really does," Florian defended. "He just...doesn't trust people very much anymore, not since...the Age of Fairy Tales ended."

"Age of Fairy Tales?" Lucille raised an eyebrow.

Florian covered his mouth with his hands, horrified. He had slipped out something he shouldn't have said!

"Okay, I get it, you're under oath from your boss so that you can't say anything. So I won't press, but I find it a little odd that a small child seems to be working for someone, though? You're so young."

"It's complicated. I can't say any more than I just said."

"I understand. Still, you've kinda confirmed that there are other worlds out there after all! Now I'm really ready to see what's out there!" Lucille punched the air.

"Oh, you plan on exploring other worlds?" Florian asked, though his facial expression dampened a little.

"Well, there's only so much one can learn on these islands, right? Ever wonder what could be waiting out there?"

"I would really like to explore other worlds, too." Florian smiled sadly. "I can't, though. I have to stay here."

Lucille looked sadly at Florian before softly stroking his hair. "It's...not forever, though. I definitely plan on coming back home someday. I'll even bring something from the outside world for you."

Florian smiled and nodded. "That'd be nice. Thank you. Oh! Aren't you meant to be collecting stuff for your friends?" Florian recalled.

"Ah! The coconuts and paopu fruits I need to gather! I better start on that now, or I'll have Riku lecturing me. That's the last thing I need." Lucille's peaceful mood shattered at the memory of what she was meant to be doing.

"Here, take this with you. Since you like these flowers, I'll give you one of them to remember our meeting by. Please take care of it." Florian picked one of the paopu flowers from the small flower bed he had made and offered one to the brunette.

"You sure about this, Florian?" Lucille asked, to which Florian simply nodded in consent. "Thank you. I can tell that you raised this one with a lot of love." Lucille smiled warmly at the gift. Florian tucked it into her hair so that it rested nicely as part of her.

"There, now it won't get in the way when you're doing stuff." Florian felt proud at his work.

"Thanks, Florian, I'll be sure to say goodbye to you before we leave tomorrow, okay?" Lucille felt sad. She didn't know why her heart hurt at the thought of departure from their islands now.

"Be sure to see lots of worlds out there, okay?" Florian encouraged.

"You bet. See ya." Lucille nodded and waved to him before crawling out the hole that led back to the Secret Place.

Once Florian was left alone, he sighed sadly. "So...I can't keep our promise after all...My duty to protect Destiny Islands won't allow it." He looked at the remaining two paopu flowers and gently touched one of the petals. "I'm sorry, Lucille. I wish I could have told you that the other worlds are isolated from each other. There's no way to reach them by crossing the sea alone. I know that you'll find a way somehow, though. That's...the kind of inner power that you've always possessed."

* * *

Lucille didn't waste any more time gathering the last of the supplies for their raft, namely the paopu fruit that she was meant to have gathered earlier but got distracted when she encountered Florian trying to sneak off with a paopu fruit.

"Hey, actually, maybe I should give him a bunch of these before going home tonight. He seems to like eating these," Lucille wondered. With that thought, she picked out four extra paopus and placed them in her belt bag that she had carried with her today since she was on gathering duty.

She climbed back down and gathered both fishnets filled with coconuts and paopu fruit and carried them back to the cove. Good thing they weren't heavy, otherwise that would have been a painful trek.

When she arrived at the cove, she dropped the bags to one side next to Kairi, who seemed to be waiting as a judge over something. "Hey, Kairi, back with the supplies you tasked me to get," Lucille said as she waved.

"Lu! It's about time you showed up. Sora was beginning to worry about you since you took so long," Kairi beamed.

"Sorry, kinda got distracted. Don't tell Riku that. I'll never hear the end of it otherwise." Lucille grinned.

"Well, you're here. That's what counts, and wow, I don't think we'll run low on coconuts and paopu fruit for a while." Kairi blinked.

"Heh heh, always be prepared for the unexpected," Lucille proudly claimed. "Where's Sora and Riku, anyway?"

"Oh, the usual." Kairi smirked and pointed out to the rest of the cove. Lucille saw that Sora and Riku were having one of their 'races' again.

"Boys, I'll never understand their need to compete with each other." Lucille sighed and shook her head.

"It's all good-natured rivalry though, right?" Kairi shrugged.

"I'd like to think so." Lucille mimicked Kairi's motions.

As usual, Riku was the first to arrive back with Sora making a close second.

"So, what were you two fighting over this time?" Lucille asked.

"Just over the raft name, and I see you finally came back from what should have been just an hour's worth of work." Riku crossed his arms.

"Hey, I did the task, didn't I?" Lucille rolled her eyes. "So I just took my time, big deal."

"I suppose."

"Sis? Isn't that a paopu flower in your hair? How did you get one of those when it's out of season?" Sora pointed out the pale-yellow flower.

"Huh?" Lucille used one of her hands to touch the flower. 'Ahhhh! I forgot about that! I can't tell them about Florian. They'd never believe me! I gotta make a good excuse!'

"Oh...lucky find, I guess? Guess this one was an early bloomer."

"I thought only your mom was allowed to take those flowers when they're in full bloom since she's our main island's doctor. It's forbidden for any islander to just pick one." Riku narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"Like I said, lucky find. Besides, I'm pretty sure they won't miss one flower," Lucille scoffed.

"Huh...if you say so, Sis." Sora carefreely placed his hands behind his head.

'Whew, saved. Florian's secret is secure.' Lucille mentally gave a sigh of relief.

"Wow, it's so beautiful! I've never seen one up close before!" Kairi was awed by the flower.

"Want a closer look?" Lucille smiled, taking the flower out of her hair and giving it to Kairi.

"Thank you, Lucille," Kairi thanked and gave a sniff. "Wow, so it's really true what they say. Paopu flowers really do have a sweet aroma," Kairi noted, smiling brightly. "I love its colouring, too."

"Great, aren't they? They're my favorite flowers. It's a shame that we can't pick these whenever we want since they're so treasured by the people here."

"Would be a different story if they could be homegrown, but they need to thrive in their natural habitat in order to flourish. That's what makes Lucille's story so hard to believe. I can't believe you just so happen to find an early bloomer when it's not even near their season." Riku crossed his arms.

"I keep telling you that it was a lucky find," Lucille argued.

"Either way, I'm sure they won't mind one flower. I mean, there's a whole jungle full of them still, right?" Kairi defended Lucille.

"I'm just saying." Riku shrugged.

'I wonder what Riku would say if I told him that I saw someone who managed to do just that?' Lucille thoughtfully chuckled.

"Well, either way, I think we've done enough preparations, what with all the food and other supplies we gathered. I'm sure we'll be fine." Kairi beamed, giving Lucille the flower back.

Lucille, this time, placed the flower within her hairband, so it looked as if the flower was attached to the band.

"Think you gathered enough coconuts and paopu fruits?" Sora joked to his sister.

"Hey, doesn't hurt to be careful. We don't know how long we'll be at sea. Gotta make sure we have enough to make it to the other worlds, after all." Lucille huffed.

"Heh heh, that's right. Lucille here is our survival guru, after all~" Kairi teased.

"Hey, what's that meant to mean? Don't side with Sora!"

"Well, let's get these two bags over to the raft and then head on back. Tomorrow's the big day!" Kairi cheered. Sora picked up the fishnet with paopu fruits, and, just as Lucille was about to pick up the bag of coconuts, Riku picked it up instead.

"Um, I can carry that, you know. I don't mind," Lucille told him.

"And have you collapse before the actual day tomorrow? No thanks." Riku smirked.

"Hey! I carried those two just fine without them crushing me, thank you very much!" Lucille barked, but Riku ignored her. "Rragh, sometimes I swear that Riku just does this to rile me," Lucille growled.

"Don't think too much on it. That's just how Riku is," Kairi tried to cheer up her friend.

"Say, Kairi? Did you go to the Secret Place today?" Lucille questioned curiously.

"Hm? I remember going there when I was little, but to be honest, I haven't been there in a long time. Why?" Kairi looked thoughtful for a moment before answering.

"No reason, just curious." Lucille smiled. 'So, it was Sora who went there earlier today. That makes so much sense.'

It didn't take long for the two boys to come back afterwards. "Oh, Riku? What about the bet from before?" Sora questioned.

"The one about the paopu? That was actually a joke. The look on your face was priceless. I wish I had a camera." Riku smirked.

"RIKU!" Sora proceeded to start chasing Riku around the cove with his cheeks lit a bright red.

"What was that about?" Lucille raised an eyebrow.

Kairi gave an equally confused look and shrugged.

"Ah well, let's just leave the boys to their antics. I feel exhausted just watching them," Lucille told Kairi as the two girls left the cove.

* * *

Once the boys had finally calmed down, Sora and Kairi said they wanted to stay on the main island a little more and went to the pier. Riku and Lucille stayed behind, looking at the sea. The sky had already turned a pinkish-orange hue, and you could start to see the stars appearing in the sky above them.

"So, tomorrow we set off into the great unknown."

"Yeah, who knows what kinds of other worlds we will see out there?"

"Well, here's hoping we don't end up meeting a vicious sea monster. You know, with like a hundred tentacles and a thousand eyes," Lucille teased, moving her hands to illustrate the monster.

"Someone's been reading hard into those myth books again." Riku sighed and gave her a blank look.

"Hey, you never know. It could be real," Lucille huffed.

"Either way, maybe Sora will finally get the courage he needs to tell Kairi about how he feels. It's almost painful watching him try to hide it."

"I see you caught on as well, huh?" Lucille smiled.

"You really think Sora can hide anything from me?" Riku raised an eyebrow.

"Fair point." Lucille nodded.

"Kairi's just as bad for dragging it on." Riku rolled his eyes.

"Oh ho~ Do I detect that you like Kairi, too?" Lucille teased.

"Pfft, please. Don't think I don't know what Tidus and the others have been saying. Despite how they see the whole thing, I harbour no such feelings for her at all. She's just a good friend," Riku scoffed.

"They'll just continue to think that," Lucille added.

"Let them, they'll just be disappointed in the end." Riku shook his head.

"I see." Lucille shrugged. Guess that rumour that she remembered Tidus and Selphie theorizing was false after all. Not that it bothered her. Kairi had told her anyway, although she would keep her word and stay quiet about it.

"Hey, Lucille? Did you really just find that flower by chance? No one gave it to you, right?" Riku asked.

Lucille hesitated for a moment. It was technically true that Florian had given her the flower, but since she's the only one who can see the small boy, there's no way Riku would believe her. It hurt her to lie, but wouldn't Riku just think she was lying even if she told the truth?

"Yeah, you just said yourself that only my mom is allowed to go gather paopu flowers from the jungle when they're in season. I was just as surprised myself to see one blooming so early..." She answered as she gently touched the flower's petals.

"Anyway, why are you so worked up over it?" It was Lucille's turn to ask.

Riku was quiet for a few moments before answering. "It's nothing important. Just didn't want you to start getting second thoughts about leaving the islands after all the effort you put into putting the raft together with us."

"You really think I'm going to call it quits now? Do you know who you're talking to?" Lucille smirked and puffed up her chest proudly. "As Sora's older twin, I have to look out for him. You know as well as I do how gullible he is."

"Yeah, that's a good point. Even so, you have to make sure you take care of yourself, too, not just Sora. It's true you're a lot stronger than you were when we were children now, but...there's a limit even for you. If you overwork yourself, you'll make not only Sora worry, but me and Kairi, too. We'd all be worried about you."

"I...didn't think of it like that." Lucille looked down at the sand with a faint blush. "I'm kinda touched that you would be worried."

"Of course I would be. Do I really seem that cold to you?"

"No! It's just..." Lucille shook her head frantically. "Well, I think back to when we were children. You would always tell Sora and me anything that was on your mind without any hesitation. You were more open back then. Now, it feels like you're hiding a lot of things..." Lucille explained before shaking her head. "Nevermind, I don't know what I'm trying to say."

'We aren't children anymore, Lucille. There's some things...that I don't want you to know about me. If you did, you would never look at me the same way as you do now,' Riku thought darkly to himself.

"We should head back to the main island and get some rest. It'll be a long journey ahead of us tomorrow," Riku said as he turned away from the sea.

"I'll stay on the island for a little while longer. You guys go ahead." Lucille waved to Riku.

"Alright, just be sure not to oversleep tomorrow. Can't have you slacking on the big day." Riku smirked and waved back without looking behind him.

"Heh, geez have a little faith in me, would you?" Lucille shook her head with a smile. She followed him to the pier to see them all off.

As Riku and Kairi rowed back in their boats, Sora remained looking at his sister with a concerned look.

"Sora, I'm only going to stay on the island for a little bit. I won't be gone forever." Lucille rolled her eyes. Her brother could be such a worrywart.

"I just don't want a repeat of what happened last time you were left alone, like seven years ago." Sora looked guilty.

"Sora...that wasn't your or Riku's fault. If anything, it's mine. I was being selfish and stubborn back then. Mom really shouldn't have scolded you like she did, when I was to blame," Lucille told him.

"I'm just really glad that you pulled through that. There's no way I would forgive myself if you had...you know..."

"Yeah, you're telling me. That really was a miracle." Lucille had to admit, she was surprised that she didn't suffer any consequences from drowning and going into shock like that. If anything, ever since that accident, she had only gotten stronger and healthier since then. How did that even make sense?

"Alright, I'll trust you. Be sure to be back before dinner, though. We'll never hear the end of it from Mom otherwise." Sora sighed in defeat.

"Heh heh, noted," Lucille agreed.

Sora jumped to his boat and waved to his sister. "See you in a little while, Sis!" With that, he started rowing back.

'Poor Sora. He must still feel really bad about seven years ago. I better make sure to head home soon, for his sake.'

Lucille left the pier and headed for the Secret Place. She wanted to give Florian the paopu fruits she kept in her bag as a thank you gift for the flower. Besides, for some reason, now that she thought on it, that small boy did feel familiar to her.

She was certain they'd never met before today, though, so was that even possible?

* * *

As she arrived at the cave, she saw Florian staring at the wooden door. He gently placed a hand over the surface and released what looked like a gentle glow from his hand. It radiated the door in a warm light before fading away again.

"Good, looks like the seal is working as usual. Still, that cloaked man worries me...I hope nothing bad happens." Florian sighed in relief.

"Hey, Florian!" Lucille waved with a bright smile. The boy jumped a little and turned around to face the brunette.

"Oh, Lucille! I thought you would be returning to the main island by now." Florian returned the smile.

"I plan to soon. I just wanted to talk to you a little more. Oh yeah! I also brought some paopu fruits with me. You like them, don't you?"

Florian blushed. "How...did you?"

"I saw you running off with one, remember?" Lucille recalled when they saw each other again on the small islet with the paopu tree.

"Ugh...I admit it-it's a guilty pleasure of mine." Florian sighed in defeat and hung his head in shame.

"There's no shame in liking them. I like eating them, too. They're healthy for you and a great source for vitamin C." Lucille shook her head.

"Heh heh, you haven't changed a bit at all." Florian laughed softly. He kept his voice low enough, so Lucille didn't hear him.

The happy moment was overshadowed when Florian sensed a dark presence in the cave with them. "Who's there?"

Lucille looked confused and looked in the direction Florian was facing to see a man covered completely in a brown cloak like one of those weird occult people.

"So. I was right...there is a Seraph here. This won't do at all," The man replied cryptically.

"What the? Who is this creep?" Lucille took a step forward in defiance.

"Lucille, don't go near him. He's a bad man."

"Just a bad man? What a naive little Seraph you are if you think I'm just a bad man." The man chuckled darkly.

"I don't know what a Seraph is or who you are, but there's no way I'm letting you hurt Florian, not while I'm here!" Lucille frowned.

"Interesting, you remind me of that boy I saw earlier in this place. Ah, you must be twins. Most fascinating."

She took a few more steps forward. "You've met Sora? I swear if you did anything to him, I'll-!"

"Hmhmhm…I did nothing, although I did give him some food for thought."

"Well, whoever you are, you're very creepy, and I don't trust you an inch." Lucille frowned. There was definitely something not right about this cloaked figure. His whole presence gave her a horrible feeling like something was crawling all over her.

"You are just as naive as the Seraph child next to you. You two have no idea what truly lies beyond that door."

"You'll see! My friends and I are going to see what's out there, and we'll see what lies beyond our islands!" She challenged.

"The Wheel of Fate and Destiny turns over onwards, ever merciless toward those who are caught in its path-just as it was fate that we meet, little girl. Or should I call you Ava, the pure-hearted one?"

"Ava? Okay, now you're really in creeper territory! And I don't know any Ava!" Lucille shivered.

Florian stood in front of Lucille and outstretched his arms like a barrier between her and the cloaked man.

"Do you really think you stand a chance against the Seeker of Darkness, Seraph child?"

"I won't let you harm Lucille or allow this world to become consumed by the Heartless!"

"Bold words coming from a mere child. Let's see how true your words are." The man raised a hand and released a wave of dark energy that pushed Lucille and Florian off their feet and into the wooden door behind them harshly. The two managed to struggle back to their feet, facing the cloaked man in front of them.

"Lucille, when you get the chance, run away." Florian turned to the brunette.

"Huh? Why? I'm not going to leave you here alone with this creep!" She shook her head.

"You have to! I can't let you get hurt because of me. This is my duty as guardian of Destiny Islands. I have to protect this world's heart from horrible people like him, or else...this world will be destroyed..." Florian argued.

"Destroyed?" Lucille repeated with terrified eyes. She started as the cloaked figure suddenly approached, which wrenched her attention back in his direction. Her jacket was pulled on by the man as he threw her to the far side of the room.

"Oh. foolish little Seraph, I am not the one who will destroy this world. That will be at the hands of the boy called Riku. If you truly wish to prevent this world's fate, you will have to deal with him," The man answered.

Having previously scrambled back into a sitting position after her impact with the ground, Lucille paused at his words before hurrying back to her feet as she proclaimed, "Riku?! How dare you assume Riku would do such a thing? He'd never do something like that!"

"Then you don't know that boy as well as you claim, little girl. You cannot stop what is already set in motion, and the demise of your world has already been decided. You never stood a chance against fate." The man left his parting words with them as he disappeared into thin air.

"No, it's not true, it's not! I know Riku better than that!" Lucille gritted her teeth at where the man once stood.

"Oh no!" Florian gasped in horror, checking the door.

"Florian, what's wrong?" She moved to stand back near the small boy from her spot across the room

"The seal, the one I use to conceal the keyhole-it's gone!" Florian pointed, and, as clear as day, the keyhole could now be seen.

"So that's why there was never a keyhole on it. It was always there but hidden from sight. So long as the door remains closed. though, the world's heart will be safe. That's what you called it, right?" Lucille surmised.

"Well, yes, but this is still really bad! The Heartless can enter through the keyhole. You see, the seal works both ways. It conceals the keyhole on both sides of the door. But now that it's gone, the Heartless will be able to find it and seep through!" Florian panicked.

Lucille gasped, now realizing what Florian meant. "You...can't redo the seal?"

"I...I don't know how. I was only taught how to renew it. The original caster of the seal moved on hundreds of years ago." Florian shook his head.

"Oh no..." Lucille felt scared. What did this mean for their home, their islands? Wait...did he just say hundreds of years? Just how old was Florian really? There was also that word, Seraph. What did that mean? How was Florian connected?

"Lucille, I'm so sorry. I wasn't strong enough. I'm a failure as a guardian." Florian's fists shook as they clenched up.

"Hey, this wasn't your fault, Florian. None of it was. I bet it was that creepy coat guy. He must have done something when he pushed us back with that attack of his." Lucille took a gentle hold of Florian's shoulders to calm him. "Right now, we need to put a stop to this. And don't even think about telling me to run. This is my home. I'm going to protect it however I can!"

"But, you don't have anything to protect yourself with. The Heartless won't hesitate to attack you if they sense you. I don't want anything awful to happen to you!" Florian shook his head.

"What are the Heartless, anyway?"

"They're...they're essentially the darkness given physical form. They are creatures who lack hearts and hunt down those that do and steal them. There's darkness in every heart, and that's where the main source of it stems from.

"I see...I suppose something as simple as a wooden sword would be pointless against them, huh?" Lucille bit her lip.

"A wooden sword...? Wait, I think I can help out! Do you have it with you?" Florian looked up expectantly.

Lucille nodded and took out the wooden sword that she had attached to the back of her belt. She always carried it with her for some reason. Gave her a sense of security.

"Okay, let's see if I can improvise." Florian nodded and placed a hand over the wooden blade. His hand glowed lightly, and the wooden sword began to morph and take a different form. The light was so bright, Lucille had to cover her eyes with her free arm.

Once the light faded, she lowered her arm and saw what became of the wooden sword. "Whooooaa~ Florian! This is-!" The wooden sword was now a white sword with elegant, curved designs, the handle of the weapon shaped like wings curved together to make a heart. It even had a keychain attached to the end that looked like a pair of curved, angelic wings.

"That's the best I can do for you. I changed the wooden sword into a seraphic weapon. It can only be used against Heartless and those who are overwhelmed by the darkness," Florian explained.

"...Uh..." Lucille looked puzzled and tilted her head.

"In other words, it's literally a weapon of light." Florian smiled with a sweatdrop. "I hope that it's enough to keep you safe."

Lucille smiled and nodded. "I'm sure it will. I already feel a lot safer with this."

"I'll stay here and see if I can find some way to reverse this. Some of the Heartless may have already spawned and started to attack people. You need to keep them safe," Florian told her.

"Florian, how old are you really? I'm beginning to think you're not ten," Lucille wondered.

"Huh? Um...is that really important?"

Lucille thought for a moment and then shook her head. "Nah, you're right. We got bigger things to worry about. Alright, stay safe, okay?" With that, she ran out of the cave.

"You too, Lucille! Don't drop your guard against the Heartless!" Florian called out, hoping she got his message. He then turned around to see that the keyhole was already spawning small, thin tentacles from itself.

"We're running out of time. I need to close this keyhole off soon...otherwise..." Florian dreaded the worst-case scenario and shook his head. "No, I can do this! I know I can! Lucille is doing her best out there, so I will too!"

Renewed with determination, Florian started to focus his magic on the keyhole, trying to concentrate and find the right kind of incantation to close off the keyhole, or at least block the hole to keep the Heartless out.

He heard footsteps coming from behind him, but before he could turn around to see who it was, everything suddenly went black before his eyes.

* * *

Lucille rushed out of the cave with the weapon that Florian had created for her under the pressure of their situation. The first thing she noticed was how dark it had gotten, a little too dark for her liking...She also heard the wind howling violently with sounds of thunder in the mix. She saw a large, dark ball in the sky that was slowly growing larger like a balloon, and she watched as various things started to be pulled from the ground upwards towards that giant ball in the sky.

She saw the raft that all four of them had worked so hard to make be torn apart and scattered into smaller pieces as it got sucked in along with some trees.

"Our raft...We worked so hard on making that..." Lucille's body shook. "Okay, now I'm mad!" Lucille steeled herself and readied her weapon for any Heartless that chose to appear.

When she saw small, black creatures with glowing, yellow eyes spawn from the ground and take physical form, it dawned on her: "The creatures from my nightmares! So these are the Heartless. Talk about irony," Lucille said before two of them leaped at her, but she easily countered them with two horizontal swipes, the sword Florian gave her cutting them cleanly in half.

"Wow, this thing is amazing! I owe Florian big time." Lucille smiled at the effectiveness of the weapon. She ran her way towards the docks, taking swipes at any Heartless that dared try to make the first move on her. Once she reached the pier, she saw that Kairi was there, surrounded by a circle of Heartless that were closing in on her.

"Get away from Kairi, you freaks!" Lucille yelled, taking down every one of the Heartless that were near Kairi.

"Lucille!" Kairi cried out in relief and happiness.

"Kairi, are you okay? They didn't hurt you?"

Kairi hugged her best friend tightly. "I'm so glad you're okay! Sora said you were just going to stay here for a little while, but when I saw that a storm was brewing over the island..." Kairi told her.

"I'm sorry, Kairi. I really never expected this to happen."

"I don't think any of us did." Kairi shook her head. She then noticed the weapon in her hand. "Lu, where did you get that sword?"

"Huh? Oh this, um...it's a really long story." Lucille scratched her cheek nervously. She then noticed that another boat was already present alongside Kairi's.

"Isn't that Riku's boat?" Lucille questioned.

"You haven't seen him either? I thought you two would have at least bumped into each other." Kairi looked confused.

"He didn't come with you?"

"No, I think he was the first to come here. I only followed a few minutes after seeing that huge dark ball in the sky. I've never seen a storm like this."

"Yeah, this is definitely no natural storm" Lucille proclaimed as she nodded. 'I wonder if the Heartless are connected to the strange weather? Yeah, no way that they can't be connected. The timing is too perfect. Just then, her thoughts drew to the only member of the foursome left unaddressed.

"Sora! Sora isn't here, is he?" Lucille asked Kairi. She really hoped he wasn't.

"No, I think he's still on the main island."

Lucille sighed in relief. 'Thank goodness, he'll be safe there, I think. Sora...please be safe. Don't die on me.'

"But, I can't help but worry that he might have gone with Riku on the same boat," Kairi added. That made Lucille's heart drop like a lead, but she decided to try and stay calm for Kairi's sake. But now she couldn't help but worry about her twin brother's plight.

"How's the raft? Is it still in one piece? Or did the storm..."

Lucille shook her head. "Don't bother, it was swallowed up by that thing in the sky."

"Oh no...We worked so hard on it, too." Kairi was sad for the loss of their raft. It was the product of the teamwork between all four of them, after all.

"Kairi, we need to get you somewhere safe. It's not safe out here...I know, the cave! I'm sure Florian can keep you safe!" Lucille's expression brightened as the realization clicked.

"Florian? Who's-whoa!" Kairi was about to ask before Lucille took hold of her hand and pulled her into a brisk running pace.

They hurried as fast as their legs could take them, with the powerful gusts of wind testing their bodies and strength to not get blown away.

They quickly entered the cave, where they were given short respite from the storm outside. Lucille could only look on in horror as she saw the door had been blown completely wide open, and that Florian was collapsed on the ground unconscious.

"Florian!" She rushed over and picked the boy up in her arms before gently shaking him. "Hey, wake up, Florian!"

"So this is Florian?" Kairi looked on curiously and tried to gently pat his cheeks to wake him.

"Mmmm...Ow, my head...that really hurt..." Florian moaned in pain as his eyes slowly fluttered open.

"Oh, thank goodness! What happened, Florian? The door's open," Lucille asked.

Florian's eyes widened in horror when he heard that. "What?!" He was a little unsteady when he tried to stand on his feet too quickly.

"Oh no! How could this happen?" Florian took a few steps back in shock at the sight.

"Is that...bad?" Kairi tugged on Lucille's sleeve.

"According to Florian, yeah, that's really bad. Florian, what happened to you?" Lucille approached the fair-haired boy and tried to ask again. She attached her sword back onto her belt as she did so.

"I...I remember I was trying to block the keyhole somehow, then...Wait, someone was here! That person knocked me out before I could turn around to see who it was." Florian tried to recall the last moments of his memory before he was attacked.

"Do you remember anything about that guy who attacked you?" Lucille pressed.

"Um...Let me think...I think I saw...No, I'm sorry, it happened so suddenly I don't remember anything worth noting." He shook his head.

"Can't be helped, then. Man, when I find the jerk who knocked you out, he'll be sorry. How could he do something so horrible at a time like this?" Lucille demanded.

"How long have you both known each other?" Kairi smirked. "I think I know the real truth of where that paopu flower came from now." She giggled.

"Oh! You can see me too, Miss?! Huh, maybe there are more people than I first thought that can actually see me..." Florian wondered thoughtfully. "You're one of Lucille's close friends, right? Thank you for being with her all the time. She had been very lonely before what happened seven years ago. I'm glad she's found such a wonderful friend in you."

Kairi blinked. "Ahh...you're welcome?" Kairi was baffled by the boy's cryptic response.

"To be honest, I've only met him for the first time today, but somehow I feel like..." Lucille frowned before shaking her head. "We can ponder about those kinds of questions later when all this craziness is over."

Lucille's curiosity got the better of her, and she walked a bit forward until she was standing on the very edge where the ground ended. "What's beyond this door, anyway?"

"Lucille! Please don't go too near. It's not safe," Florian warned.

A dark tentacle of darkness poured out from the void of pure blackness that seemed to stream out endlessly. It made a lunge for Lucille so fast that there was no way she could dodge it in time, nor would Florian, standing too far back, have a chance to react. Lucille felt herself being pushed out of the way and could only look on in horror as she witnessed Kairi being stabbed by the tentacle instead, giving out a soft gasp as she did.

"KAIRI!" Lucille cried out after she'd fallen on the ground harshly. Florian covered his mouth and gasped loudly.

"Lu...cille...Are you...okay? Thank good...ness..." Kairi barely made out before her body began to fade. A glowing ball of light seemed to make its way out of her body and flew off into the sky.

By the time Lucille had jumped back onto her feet and tried to reach for Kairi, her body just fell right through her arms and vanished. "Kairi! Where did she go?! Florian...where did she...?"

"Lucille...I'm...so sorry. That's...what happens when a Heartless succeeds in releasing a heart."

"No...No! She's not dead, she can't be! Kairi... I'm so sorry...I couldn't protect you at all...You're who ended up saving me..." Lucille's thoughts were all over the place from being distraught and unable to accept the reality of what had transpired until she had no choice but to.

"Hold on, it's not hopeless. We can still get it back."

"We can?" Lucille looked hopeful.

"Kairi's heart didn't get snatched up and consumed-it just flew away. Maybe it's gone to find sanctuary in another person's heart. There have been cases of such a thing happening before," Florian reasoned.

"Then...her heart isn't gone forever? It's just gone to find shelter?" Lucille summarized.

"Right, so don't lose hope! As long as her heart is safe in the heart of another, she can always find a way to return back to you and your friends." Florian nodded.

"Even so, this is all my fault. I should have listened and stayed away from the edge. Kairi did nothing to deserve any of this. How could anyone hurt her?!" Lucille's eyes teared up, and she sniffed.

"I know...She would never blame you, though. She was just doing what you would have done for her in a heartbeat. I know that for a fact." Florian hugged her, hoping that it gave her at least a little comfort.

"Florian..."

"It'll be okay. We still have hope. Even when things seem their darkest, a light will always be there to guide us the way back to the light."

"Heh, ever the optimist." Lucille softly smiled.

"I had a good teacher who taught me that." Florian smiled back.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Lucille tilted her head.

Florian snapped his head sharply in the direction of the noise he'd heard behind him. Lucille followed his gaze to see a familiar face.

"Riku...? Riku! You're okay, thank goodness! Have you seen Sora? Please tell me he's alright!" Lucille rushed towards Riku.

Florian gauged the silverette carefully. Why did this guy seem recently familiar to him?

Lucille looked a little confused when she noticed Riku had not said anything back. "Riku? Are you okay?"

"Lucille, the door has opened."

"What? Um, yeah, I can see that, but we're trying to find a way to close it." Lucille raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Why do that?"

"WHY!? Riku! What's wrong with you?! Whatever is beyond that door is NOT something that should be let out! We need to shut it now!" Lucille snapped.

"But don't you see? The door has finally opened. Now we can go see the outside world!"

"Riku...how can you be thinking something like that at a time like this? Those black monsters are all over the island! Answer my question from before. Where's Sora?! Did he come with you on your boat?"

"Sora and Kairi are coming with us!" Riku stated. It was almost like he was ignoring her.

"Are you even listening to me?! If anything happens to my precious twin brother because of you, I'll never forgive you, ever!"

"...Wait a minute..." Florian felt a presence of darkness lingering in the room…and it was coming from Riku. "Lucille, something's wrong! Get away from him!"

"What?!" Lucille turned to Florian with a horrified look. She yelped in alarm as she was then lifted up and put over Riku's shoulder. "Hey! Put me down! Riku, stop this!" Lucille barked at him.

"Let her go! What are you doing? She's your friend, isn't she?" Florian tried to call out to him, but it looked as if Riku didn't even see him. "What...? He doesn't see me?" Florian realized.

"We'll see each other in the outside world, okay? I need to go get Sora, but I'll find you again. I promise," Riku told her as he made his way over to the black opening, Lucille still slung over his shoulder.

"Huh? What do you mean? What are you going to do to Sora? And what do you mean by 'find me'?"

With that, he placed her on the ground and pushed her through the door, where she fell into the void of darkness. "What...? Riku...why?!'

"Lucille! Hold on!" Florian reacted before his mind could catch up with what his heart had ordered his body into doing. He ran and jumped into the void after Lucille.

* * *

Florian and Lucille kept falling in what seemed like an endless black void with no way to tell if they were near the ground or not.

He fought against the currents of the air caused by their falling to reach towards Lucille, who had long since fallen unconscious from both the stress of current events and the pressure of the air, which had made her light-headed enough to lose consciousness in the first place.

When Florian finally grabbed one of her arms, he firmly held on so as to not let go.

"I have to get us out of here before we both fall into the Realm of Darkness! But how...?" Florian tried to think of a solution. That was when he remembered something Lord Yggdrasil, the one who had taken him under his wing when he had reawakened as a Seraph, had told him.

Human bodies were frail in the Realm of Darkness, and their hearts were more vulnerable to corruption. Seraphim, however, had natural immunity in the Realm of Darkness, and they could travel through special pathways that led them to different worlds, very much like the Heartless could when they tried to search for open keyholes that could be exploited.

But he wouldn't abandon Lucille in this terrible place. He absolutely refused! That left him with one other option, but that was something that both parties involved needed to accept. But since Lucille was unconscious, there was no way to get her answer.

He remembered what happened to the girl Kairi when a Heartless attacked her, releasing her heart for any Heartless to snatch up, when he thought about Lucille in the same scenario...no, he didn't want to see it happen! That would destroy his own heart if it happened to the one human he wanted to protect above all.

'I...I don't want Lucille to die!' Suddenly, a bright light engulfed the both of them, illuminating the darkness like a candle, before transporting them to safety.

* * *

Whew, that was a very long chapter. I'm pretty proud of how it turned out, though. =3

How are you guys enjoying the story so far? Please let me know what you think in a review, as I would love to hear feedback on how the story is progressing. =3

Florian is a mysterious little fella, isn't he? What's his connection to Lucille? What's a Seraph? Where did that burst of light take our two heroes? =3 Find out in the next chapter! ^-^

Until then, happy reading, folks. Moogle Empress out!

Moogle: Kupo!


	3. Episode 3: Traverse Town

**Episode 3: Traverse Town**

* * *

Meanwhile in the world of Traverse Town, Goofy and Donald, a captain and court wizard that were loyal and devoted to their beloved ruler King Mickey, had just arrived themselves on this world filled with neon lights.

Goofy looked upwards to the sky and noticed something. "Oh?"

"Wak?" Donald turned to ask his friend.

"Look! A star's goin' out!" Goofy pointed upwards as a star flickered in the sky for a few moments before disappearing completely from the sea of stars above them.

"Come on, let's hurry!" Donald urged them to move onwards to find 'the one with the key' that the King had instructed them to find.

Elsewhere, both Lucille and Florian both laid unconscious near a mural of butterflies in the Second District, unaware that two strangers that were passing by had noticed and started to approach them.

* * *

Lucille whined in pain as her senses started to return to her. She slowly fluttered her eyes open, although the light above her blinded her temporarily before they refocused and sharpened. She took a look around at her surroundings.

In her dazed state, she thought that she was back in her room, but as she grew more awake her eyes widened with the realization that this was not her room at all!

She sat up in bed quickly and noted that the room looked like it had been turned into a makeshift bedroom. Considering how old and musty the place looked, it was actually pretty tidy and organized. She noticed there was a huge ladder that seemed to go to another room both below and above her. So they must be on a 2nd floor of...a building? How did they even get here? Where WERE they even?

She slipped off the bed and went towards where the still unconscious boy was resting on the bed next to her. He thankfully looked unhurt, just deep in sleep. She smiled and gently stroked his hair.

"He must be exhausted from everything that happened...I should let him sleep some more." Lucille nodded and decided to let Florian continue to rest. She needed to find out what had happened to their island and where exactly they'd washed up.

She looked out of the window to see glaring neon lights that were almost blinding to her eyes. She noticed there was a small plaza with a restaurant and some people wandering around and hanging.

"We're definitely not on Destiny Islands anymore. So, this is another world!" Lucille's eyes widened in awe and realization.

"How...did we wash up here, though? Let's see, last thing I remember...we were in the Secret Place. A Heartless attacked Kairi and released her heart...That's right, Riku!" Lucille recalled all the events that had happened before she had blacked out.

"That jerk! He pushed me through that godforsaken door! I swear when I see that moron again, I'm going to punch him right in the jaw, or better yet-his nose!" Lucille swore vengeance against Riku for pushing her into that door and causing her to fall into what seemed like an endless pit of darkness. When her anger faded, she recalled that Riku also wasn't acting his usual self.

"Hmm. Something wasn't right about Riku when we saw him. He almost acted like he was a different person. The Riku I know would never be so thoughtless. I wonder...if Heartless can possess people? Maybe that's why Riku acted so weird?" Lucille tried to figure out a reason for Riku's actions. She refused to believe that Riku would do something like that on purpose.

"My, someone's gotten her energy back." A new voice entered the room, causing Lucille to jump out of her skin and hide inside the bed with the blanket covering her She poked her head out a little to see the new arrival.

"Hahaha! Relax, I assure you, I'm not a Heartless nor a threat." The person laughed warmly as he waved one of his hands carefreely to calm the brunette girl.

He was a seventeen-year-old boy who had short, auburn hair that only fell halfway to his neck and warm, hazel eyes with a few freckles surrounding his nose. He wore a baggy, light-grey jumpsuit with long sleeves and a sleeveless, light-brown mechanic jacket over himself. He also had brown fingerless gloves that reached to his wrists with grey steel-capped boots. He lastly had a dark-red newspaper hat and the glasses he wore were thin-framed but rested comfortably on the bridge of his nose. From the way he looked, he looked like a mechanic of some sort.

"Oh, that's-! I mean-ah, of course you're not a Heartless. I mean, how could a Heartless be inside a room where there's so much light in the building?" Lucille laughed nervously. Her social awkwardness when it comes to complete strangers was starting to kick in.

"Well, you'd be in luck-the first district is patrolled constantly for any Heartless, so they never get a good chance to attack anyone here. So long as you remain in the First District, you shouldn't run into any. Second and Third District, though, is another matter entirely." The boy told her.

"I see...Were you the one that found us and brought us here? Thank you for your hospitality," Lucille shyly replied.

"Well, it's true Cid and I were the ones who decided to look after you, but I wasn't the one who found you-that would be a friend of mine and his partner. I'm sure you'll be able to thank them properly when they return. They always come here for gummi parts since that rabbit is always breaking something from his ship. Heh heh, gets Cid to blow a gasket every time."

"Ship?" Lucille had an excited look in her eyes and came out of hiding with a starry-look in her eyes. "You mean like one of those huge ships like in the stories with pirates? That's so cool!"

"Ahh...not quite that kind of ship. You're pretty new to being washed up on another world, aren't you?"

"Well...yeah, I've never been off my islands before. I don't even know what became of it." Lucille shook her head.

"If you ended up in Traverse Town...then...your world has probably been taken over by the Heartless." He gave a little bit of sympathy.

"Destiny Islands...gone?" Lucille's voice quivered. She sat down on the bed, trying to hold back the tears that were forming in her eyes. The mechanic went next to Lucille and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"I know, it's never easy. Everyone in Traverse Town has lost their home world to the Heartless. I guess this particular world acts like a haven to those who get stranded and somehow find their way here. Like a light in the dark, if that makes sense."

Lucille sniffed and did her best to not cry. She rubbed the tears from her eyes with her arms and held her head high. "It's just...my friends and I just wanted to leave Destiny Islands to go see the other worlds beyond ours...but...I would never have wanted it to happen like this. I would never want to see my home consumed by the darkness. What of my twin brother Sora? My friends? My parents, everyone on the islands? I...can't...I don't want to believe they're all gone!"

"I'll leave you alone for a little while. Don't be afraid to cry if you need to, You'll feel better for it once you do. Okay?" He smiled and stood up from the bed to head down the ladder again.

There was a period of silence once that person left the room, leaving Lucille by herself. It was around that time that Florian had finally began to stir, rubbing his eyes.

"Florian! What a relief. How do you feel?" Lucille forced a smile on her face. She didn't want Florian to worry about her when they had other things to be concerned about.

"Lucille? Lucille!" Florian looked dazed for a moment. He then snapped wide awake and ran straight over to her, wrapping her in a tight hug.

"I'm so glad! So glad that you're okay! I was so worried-!" Florian blurted out.

"Florian...You...jumped in after me, didn't you? I'm so sorry for causing you so much trouble, but I have a feeling I wouldn't be here if you hadn't. Thank you."

"Don't ever say that. You were never any trouble. Besides...something tells me that you would have done the same for me too," Florian smiled.

"Florian...I couldn't do anything to save anyone. I couldn't save Destiny Islands from being consumed...I-! I-!" Lucille's head fell so the front of her hair covered her eyes, wanting to hide her tears that threatened to overflow.

Florian just gave her a sympathetic smile and a friendly hug in comfort. "It's okay to cry, Lucille. You shouldn't hold them in. It's bad for your health." Florian said the same words that the other boy told her just not long ago.

Lucille couldn't hold it back anymore and cried into Florian's shoulder, in anguish over her inability to protect her home or the people that she loved.

"It'll be okay, Lucille." Florian tried to soothe her as she continued to cry. He wanted to be strong for her, even though he felt like he wanted to cry too. He failed miserably in his duty as guardian of Destiny Islands to prevent it's fall into the Realm of Darkness. He was still new to being a Seraph, but this was the first time he felt so strongly ashamed of himself for not being stronger.

He wanted to do his best for Lucille's sake. After all, they were in this together now.

* * *

"Thanks, Florian, I really do feel better after getting that all out of my system," Lucille thanked him as she did a final sniff and dried her eyes completely.

Florian shook his head. "It's the least I can do. I was unable to protect what was my home, too. We'll find a way to get Destiny Islands back, and we'll find your brother and your friends, too!"

"Yeah, you're right. We can't lose hope. Even when things seem their darkest, a light will always be there to guide us back, right?" Lucille smiled.

"Exactly!" Florian nodded proudly.

The boy from before climbed back up the ladder in what looked like a rush. "Hey, I think I got some new information for you! Oh hey, kiddo. You woke, too. Good to see."

"Oh, Lucille told me about what you and this Cid person did for us. Thank you very much for sheltering us."

"Ah, don't mention it. Anyway, I just heard something from Cid that might interest you. You said that your brother's name was Sora, right?"

Lucille jumped to her feet. "Sora?!"

"Cid just told me that a boy half an hour ago came into this store. Looks like he got stranded on this world, too. He mentioned your name along with a Riku and Kairi that he was looking for."

"It is Sora! He's alive!" Lucille beamed brightly.

"That's great news. Do you know where he is now?" Florian also was overjoyed by the news.

"Sorry, like I said, he left half an hour ago. Man, I wish I had been there when he was here. Stupid old man, making me go do a delivery at the worst possible time." He sighed.

"No, thank you. Just hearing that he made it off the Islands too is more than enough for me." Lucille shook her head. "Oh...I don't even know your name. That's so rude of me!"

The boy grinned and introduced himself, "Just as guilty. Name's Aster. I work as an assistant to Cid in Gummi ship building."

"I'm Lucille, and this is Florian," Lucille introduced them both. She then realized something. "Hold on, you can see Florian?!"

"Yeah, the little blondie with the curled antenna? Definitely can. I bet you catch radio waves with that thing." Aster nodded.

"...Wow, I'm surprised. So there are other people other than Lucille and Miss Kairi that can see me." Florian was impressed.

"Huh?" Aster looked puzzled.

"Never mind. Anyway, I've got to go find Sora!"

"Of course, oh, don't forget to take that sword with you," Aster agreed then pointed to a blade that was leaning on the wall next to where Lucille was sleeping.

"The sword Florian gave me!" Lucille swiftly picked up the blade.

"You normally don't sleep with swords still attached to you, so I removed it and placed it nearby. Sorry about that," Aster explained.

Lucille shook her head. "I understand, thank you."

"Do you know a good place to start looking?" Florian asked.

"I say start where my friend found you-in the 2nd District. It's a pretty commercial area, so there's always a bunch of people hanging around there," Aster recommended.

"Thanks, Aster. Oh, if your friend comes back, can you tell him I said thank you for bringing us here?" Lucille requested.

"Sure thing." Aster nodded.

With that, Lucille and Florian climbed down the ladder into the accessory shop, where a middle-aged blonde man with a twig on his mouth was waiting.

"Yo, yer the one that the rabbit and his partner brought in. Good to see you are doing better. You looked like you had been through some rough stuff. Aster here told me everything, especially since I heard ya crying even from upstairs. I feel ya, kiddo. It ain't easy losing your home to those little buggers."

"You must be the one called Cid. I'm Lucille. Thank you so much for your hospitality," Lucille thanked. She glanced at Florian and then back at Cid.

"I assume he can't see me. If they don't know I'm here, let's keep it that way. Last thing we need is for them to think you've gone crazy," Florian whispered to her.

"Agreed." Lucille nodded slightly.

"Eh? Who ya talking to, girl? Ya feeling alright?"

"It's nothing. Your assistant Aster told us that you've met a boy named Sora who came into the store. Do you happen to know where he is?" Lucille asked as Aster had just climbed down and approached the shop stand.

"Oh yeah, I saw the kid. Said he was looking for his sister and two best friends. Wait...you're not telling me you're HIS sister!"

"Heh heh, yeah." Lucille sweatdropped with a nervous smile.

"God damn it! I knew I should have stopped to ask the kid before he left!" Cid cursed.

"Language, old man! We have a young lady present," Aster scolded.

"Hey, boy. None of that lip. I taught ya everythin' ya know!" Cid grumpily barked.

"Yeah yeah, I know, old man." Aster rolled his eyes with a lopsided smile.

"Thank you for taking care of me. I'm going to try and find him. Hopefully he hasn't left yet. I'll come back later." Lucille bowed respectfully before heading to the exit with Florian in tow.

"Stay safe out there, girl. If ya need somewhere to rest, ya know where to look. We'll look after ya," Cid told her just before she left.

Lucille simply turned and nodded her head in thanks before closing the door behind her.

* * *

"I'm glad that Aster played along and didn't mention me to Cid." Florian sighed in relief.

"Yeah, that would have been awkward." Lucille nodded and looked at what was the first district, according to Aster.

"Um...Lucille, there's something I forgot to tell you that I should have mentioned sooner. You see-"

"LADY AVAAAA!" A high-pitched cry shattered the calm atmosphere.

"Eh? Lady Ava?" Lucille could only ask before she got tackled by something...fluffy?

"Oh, Lady Ava! How the years have been so lonely and dreary without you! Wahhhh! It was so horrible! Ever since the end of the Keyblade War, I had to wander from place to place to find any Keyblade Wielders, but every one of them thought I was a nightmare and kept chasing me out! Then I met this really mean Keyblade Weieder who would pull on my ears and whiskers! I only just managed to escape him when I sensed your radiant heart within the area." It was what looked like a small, grey, Scottish, fold-looking cat with the fur colour of a tabby. It also had a small purse and a tiny cape around its neck.

Lucille was completely at a loss for words. She eventually found some words to reason with the small creature. "Umm...I'm sorry, but you seem to be mistaking me for someone else. I'm not Lady Ava."

The small creature looked both stunned and crestfallen. "B-But-! There's no way I could mistake it! This heart, this same light!"

Lucille could only look on completely confused and lost by the creature's words. The small creature whimpered, "Could it be that I've mistaken you after all? But the resemblance is so uncanny! It can't be a coincidence!"

"It's so cute~! Um, what are you, though? A cat?" Florian asked after gushing over the cuteness of the critter.

"Me? I'm a Chirithy! A dream eater. Or...well, I'm probably one of the very last ones that are still around. Most of my kin ended up corrupted by the darkness."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Florian apologised.

"Not your fault. That's unfortunately our fate. If our Keyblade Wielder falls to darkness, so will the Chirithy they own. Of course, my Lady Ava never gave in no matter the odds. She helped formed the Dandelion Order, you know~"

"Uhh..." It was now Florian's turn to look confused. "So...basically...you guys are similar to Seraphim?"

"Oh hey...wow! Can't believe I didn't notice it! Such an honour to meet a real-life Seraph!"

"Um, I'm not really that great. In truth, I'm still very weak in comparison to others." Florian shook his head.

"Are you kidding me? Not anyone can just be a Seraph. It takes a very pure and strong heart to become one. That's still an amazing achievement!"

"That reminds me...Florian, what...are you? What is a Seraph? That cloaked man called you that too-multiple times, in fact," Lucille asked.

"..." Florian sighed. "Okay, there's no point in me hiding it now. We're pretty much at the point of no return by now. A Seraph or the Seraphim is what I am. We are beings of pure light that take physical form. What form we take depends on the world that we are assigned to."

"I'm still very young in comparison to other Seraphim. In truth, I'm actually the youngest. Lord Yggdrasil, the eldest of all the Seraphim, took me under his wing when I reawakened as a Seraph."

"Reawakened?" Lucille repeated.

"You see, Lady-Ah, what's your name, young Miss?" The Chirithy asked the brunette girl.

"Lucille," Lucille answered with a smile.

"Very well, I shall call you Lady Lucille. In any case, what the little fella here is saying is that all Seraphim are literally hearts in physical form. Not anyone can be a Seraph, though. The heart has to be completely pure without a single speck of darkness. Also, they have to have a wish so strong that it transforms the heart into a completely new being," Chirithy explained.

"Wow...That sounds incredible! So does that mean even something like a kitty cat or a seagull can become a Seraph?" Lucille wondered.

"Well, that's random, but...yeah, it applies to anything that can grow a heart. Hearts have a mysterious power that most people underestimate or cannot understand. Their bodies also take form depending on the environment of the world they grow their powers from." The Chirithy nodded.

"How did you end up on Destiny Islands?"

"Lord Yggdrasil wanted to make sure that I was raised in a safe and warm environment, and Destiny Islands was ideal for my upbringing," Florian explained.

"Really?"

"Seraphim are attracted to places that are very strong in the light. You know, like how Heartless thrive on the darkness in people," Chirithy explained in better detail.

"And Destiny Islands had that?"

"Yup, the heart of Destiny Islands...it was very warm and gentle, like if you were standing in the light of sun." Florian smiled at the memory, but it faded when he remembered that he had failed to protect that precious light that had given him most of his powers.

"Okay, so let me see if I got this right. Seraphim are literally like guardian angels that can only be reborn from hearts that have a powerful wish and a pure heart to empower that said wish, and they only live in areas where the light is very strong, as that's how their powers grow in strength and their bodies take form?" Lucille summarized.

"That's more-or-less the basic principles, yes." Florian nodded.

"Whoa, Seraphim sound amazing~" Lucille was awed at the thought of it all. "I shouldn't be surprised, though. You were the one who gave me this fantastic sword, Flo." Lucille smiled, showing the seraphic sword to him.

"Flo?" Florian laughed.

"Heh heh, like it? It's my nickname for you. Oh, don't you like it? I can still call you Florian if you want," Lucille grinned, then added quickly while looking away, embarrassed.

"Heh heh, I like it very much. Thank you, Lucille." Florian smiled sweetly.

"That reminds me, kid. What's your main ability as a Seraph anyway?" Chirithy asked curiously.

"Main ability?" Lucille repeated in confusion.

"All Seraphim pride themselves on an ability that their powers are defined by. Kinda like how Keyblades reflect the heart of their owners," The small cat-like creature told her.

"I still have to ask about those Keyblades, I keep hearing that word pop up," Lucille whispered to herself.

"I can craft things from anything I choose to change, I also have healing and defensive magic," Florian told the Chirithy.

"Ooh, I see. That's very interesting."

"Craft? You mean like when you turned my wooden sword into this?" Lucille held up the sword to illustrate her point.

"That's right. I think the proper name for it is 'Seraphic Forging'. It means through my magic, I can craft or morph the original form of something into something greater or unlock its true potential. It's a little complicated to explain."

"Wow, hard to imagine that piece of wood could change into something like this." Lucille whistled.

"Just changing the item itself is not enough. It also reflects the person's heart, very much like how a mirror reflects their face. That sword is what was reflected in your heart, Lucille," Florian shook his head and explained in deeper detail.

"In other words, you helped create that thing along with Florian~," The Chirithy proudly stated.

"Whoa..." Lucille was overwhelmed with awe. So this sword was created from both she and Florian. That made her swell with pride; to think that she had a hand in helping to create this weapon against the Heartless.

"Oh yeah! We haven't given it a name yet! It's tradition to always name seraphic weapons after they are forged. It's a sign of respect of the bond between you and the Seraph that you created it with. Or at least that's what my teacher taught me," Florian told her.

"Oh, really? Hmm...What do you think we should call it?" Lucille tried to think of a good name.

"I'll let you name it, Lucille. You're pretty good at nicknames," Florian decided.

"A weapon of evil's bane, or I guess Heartless's bane in this case? Umm...Light blade? Nah, too stupid. Heartless killer? Nah, that's no good either."

"How about calling it the Lux Arma?" The Chirithy chimed.

"Lux Arma?" Lucille repeated curiously.

"In the ancient tongue, it translates to 'Armour of Light', and since the weapon is basically like defense against the darkness, I thought it'd suit the purpose of the weapon more," The Chirithy told her.

"...Hey, what a great name! Thanks, Chirithy!" Lucille beamed and picked up the small cat and hugged it.

"Lux Arma…I like it. It rolls off the tongue," Florian also consented to the name.

"Alright, from now on, the weapon will be called Lux Arma! Watch out Heartless, because the Lux Arma is gonna show no mercy!" Lucille punched the air excitedly.

"I bet you guys will be a force to be reckoned with," Chirithy cheered.

"Would you like to come with us then, Chirithy? We're going to go look for my twin brother and our two best friends," Lucille asked.

"Hmm, you know, that sounds like a swell idea. From now on, Lady Lucille, I shall be your guardian." Chirithy bounced up onto Lucille's shoulder.

"What about the person you were looking for, Lady Ava?" Lucille questioned, bringing up the name of the woman that the Chirithy brought up.

The small Dream Eater sighed. "To be honest, you were my last hope. I haven't seen Lady Ava ever since the Keyblade War ended many years ago. Maybe she really is gone forever...Which means I'm all alone now." The Chirithy sniffed.

"...Chi," Lucille said out of the blue.

"Huh?"

"Well, it feels kinda weird to keep calling you by Chirithy since that's the name of your kind. So I thought we could call you Chi instead. It's easier and sounds cuter, don't you think?" Lucille smiled brightly.

"L-Lady Lucille." The Chirithy's eyes watered with happiness. "Waaahhhh! You're so nice to me! Way better than that mean rabbit!"

'Rabbit? Didn't Aster and Cid mention a rabbit before?' Lucille recalled thoughtfully.

"Let's go to the Second District and see if we can find Sora there. Hopefully, we'll be able to find him." Florian pointed to the direction of the large gate that led into the next district.

"Right, let's be ready for any Heartless." Lucille nodded. 'Hang on, Sora! I'll find you. I promise!'

Lucille started walking towards the second district when the chirithy, now known as 'Chi', floated over and whispered to Florian, "When are you going to tell her that she's your vessel now in the Realm of Light? I'm aware that Seraphim sometimes choose human vessels, but I thought that had to be agreed on by both sides?"

"I haven't told her yet. I've been meaning to, but she had been unconscious at the time, so I hadn't been able to ask her properly. I had no choice but to invoke the pact; it was the only way to help her escape from that void," Florian admitted.

"It's a good idea to tell her soon. Otherwise she's going to figure out on her own at this rate," Chi suggested.

Florian nodded. "Yeah, I know." They followed behind her to begin their search for Sora, who was somewhere in this vast metropolis.

* * *

And there's chapter 3. Wow, these chapters are just flying out. XD Decided to return to shorter chapters, so that's less of a strain on readers. ^^

I hope you guys are enjoying the fan fic. =3 Let me know what you think in a review, as I would love to hear feedback on how the fan fic is being received. I hope that people are enjoying it. ^-^

Onwards to chapter 4. Until then, happy reading, everyone, Moogle Empress out!

Moogle: Kupo!


	4. Episode 4: The Reunion Of Siblings

**Episode 4: Reunion of Siblings**

* * *

Lucille, Florian and their newest little friend to the group, Chi, arrived in the Second District. During this time, Chi had been explaining to Lucille about Keyblades and what Keyblade Masters were.

"Soo...Keyblade Masters are basically people who wield giant key weapons that can lock or unlock anything, even the hearts of people and even worlds."

"Yup." Chi nodded.

"And there was this huge war between five factions that were quarrelling over an almighty weapon called the X-blade?" Florian added, just as curious as Lucille about the lore behind such a weapon.

"Yeah, back then, the factions were originally gathering lux-basically these small fragments of light that can be used to power a lot of things. If you gather enough of them, they say you could even summon Kingdom Hearts into the Realm of Light. Eventually it escalated into a huge war when the X-Blade became known." Chi nodded.

"No way, did someone actually succeed in doing that?" Lucille gasped in shock.

"What's Kingdom Hearts?" Florian tilted his head.

"Oh, it is a very special place, Lord Florian. Legend goes that all hearts, great or small, are born in the light of Kingdom Hearts, and when it's their time to leave the Realm of Light, it returns to where all hearts were born," Chi answered.

"Oooh, so that's where all our hearts go when we die-you know, naturally, not stolen by the Heartless and so on," Lucille clicked.

"Hmmm...Did Lord Yggdrasil once speak about such a place?" Florian tried to trace his memory to see if the elder Seraph mentioned it before.

"No one knows where Kingdom Hearts is now. It was swallowed up by the darkness, never to resurface," Chi continued.

"Hmmm...What if we gather these lux thingies? You said that if you gather enough of them, you can summon it, right? Maybe if we find Kingdom Hearts, we'll be able to find Kairi's heart. Maybe that's where her heart took sanctuary," Lucille wondered.

"Oh, I'm not sure if that's a good idea, Lady Lucille. Besides, if what you say about your friend's heart is true, it's more likely that it went to find shelter in the heart of someone that she trusts." Chi shook her head.

"...Yeah, I guess you're right. But who would she choose, though? I mean, there's my brother but...nah, that's impossible, right?" Lucille shook her head at the thought, passing it off as a silly theory.

"Depends, how close were they?" Chi looked thoughtful about the idea, though.

"Well...I guess you could say they were pretty close. They both have secret feelings for each other. And, my god, it's so painful, seeing them dance around each other."

"Oh, how romantic! What happened? Did they confess their undying love to each other?!" Chi became very eager to hear what happened next.

"I wish. Sora is about as good in romantic situations as a fish out of water." Lucille rolled her eyes.

"Wow Lucille, you can be so critical of your brother." Florian laughed.

"Ugh, he's so useless when it comes to romance, but I still love him, though." Lucille smiled cheerfully.

"If what you say is true, then it is not out of the realm of possibility that your friend might have indeed taken shelter within your brother's heart," Chi noted.

"You think so?" Lucille thought about her theory again and began thinking it through more carefully.

"Who can say? Oh, Lady Lucille-"

"Chi, you really don't need to add the Lady part every time. Just call me Lucille," Lucille reassured the chirithy that it was okay to be less formal.

"Alas, Lady Lucille, I cannot. I have been so used to using formal titles when addressing Keyblade Masters and others of such grand titles that it has more-or-less been hardwired into my head." Chi shook her head.

"Well, if it can't be helped, then I'll just have to live with it. It just feels...weird being given such a...grandiose title like that." Lucille blushed a little.

"Why Lady Lucille, status alone does not make one a lord or lady. It is how they act with their actions and words that defines what makes one worthy of the title. You certainly have the qualities of one I would deem as a lady," Chi praised.

Lucille blushed at the compliment. "Ah, thank you, I think?"

As Lucille was distracted, she seemed to have accidently crashed into something or someone.

"Wak! What's the big idea?!" A high, yet quacking-like voice barked.

"I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking." Lucille bowed respectfully.

"Garwsh Donald, she sure looks sorry," The giant...walking dog(?) tried to calm down his quick-tempered friend.

"Um, sorry if this is rude, but...I've never seen people like you before. Are you locals?"

"Hyuck! Nope, we're from-!"

"Goofy! No! We can't tell anyone about us or our mission!" Donald clamped Goofy's mouth shut with his feathered hands.

"A mission? Ooh! Are you on a mission to perhaps save someone? Are you off to save the world from an impending danger?" Lucille asked excitedly.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"What?" Lucille pouted.

"You don't go out very much, do you?" Donald finally said something after a long period of silence.

"She's not entirely wrong, though. After all, we are off to find King Mickey," Goofy pointed out.

"WAK! Goofy! What part of 'secret' don't you understand?!"

"King Mickey?" Lucille looked thoughtful. "If you need help in finding your king, we'll be happy to help. We're also looking for someone, my twin brother Sora who was said to be wandering around the city somewhere. Let's look together!" Lucille innocently suggested.

"Y'know what? That sounds like a swell id-"

"Thanks, but no thanks. We can do this on our own." Donald stopped Goofy mid-way and started to drag him away. "Thanks for the offer, though," Donald thanked without looking back and they continued on their way.

"Well that was one rude duck," Chi huffed. "Such ill manners towards Lady Lucille."

"They didn't seem to notice I was there, so I bet they can't see me either," Florian noted.

"Ah well, still, he could have declined a little nicer." Lucille shrugged.

"Anyway, let's continue with our search. I'm sure Sora must have passed through here." Florian shook his head and turned to Lucille.

"Right." She nodded and ran to the upper level and called out, "SORA! Can you hear me? It's Lucille! If you can hear me, answer! Helllllooooo?"

"Quiet, you'll alert the Heartless like that," A voice responded from behind her.

"Ahhh!" Lucille was startled and almost lost her footing, nearly falling off the edge before an arm grabbed her and pulled her back. She came face to face with a male youth who looked almost the same age as Riku. He had short, rebellious, dark-green hair that always looked messy no matter how many times he tried to tame it. One side of his hair covered one of his eyes from being seen, but the one eye that could be seen was a forest-green shade.

He wore a black, form-fitting sleeveless vest with a red muffler scarf wrapped around his neck, which fell just over his shoulders. He wore black pants with many belts around the waist, some were even left loose while others were strapped already. He also wore black, zipped boots with just as many belts around the ankle.

One of the things that she couldn't help but stare at was his left hand, which was covered with a wrist length, fingerless glove and his whole right arm was covered in bandages, even up to where his arm met his shoulder, but the muffler scarf blocked most of the view of his shoulder blade.

"Ah, thank you," Lucille managed to say as she pulled the boy's grip off the arm that he used to pull her back. The hand that grabbed her arm-the bandaged covered one-felt so warm beneath it.

"Next time, don't go shouting so loud like that. It makes you look stupid," The boy scoffed.

"Wha? Hey! You don't have to be a jerk about it!" Lucille countered.

"Whatever, try not to get mauled by the Heartless," The boy scoffed again and gave a small aloof wave as he passed by them.

"Hey, wait a minute! Do you think you can help us? We're trying to look for someone. Maybe you've seen them?"

"Hm? And what does a girl who's been chosen by the Seraphim want with a lowly mortal like myself?" He crossed his arms.

"Chosen?" Lucille looked confused and raised an eyebrow.

"You don't know? But you have a Seraph with you, and he doesn't seem to have any problems walking around in the Realm of Light. It's usually very dangerous for Seraphim to be walking about in our realm without a chosen vessel to act as an anchor and a means of protecting one's self. That means you have a Seraph living inside you now."

"Eh?! B-But I don't remember that happening!" Lucille cried out.

"Ask the Seraph kid here, not me." He pointed to Florian, who had a guilty expression.

"...Florian?" Lucille looked confused and turned to the small Seraph.

"I'm sorry, Lucille. I was planning to tell you..." Florian admitted with guilt weighing down on his heart.

"Whoa, hold on! I'm not mad or anything, Florian!" Lucille flailed her arms and shook her head. "Well, okay, I won't lie, I'm really shocked and maybe more annoyed than angry. Is what this guy is saying true? If so, when did this happen?"

"When you got pushed through the door into the void of darkness below, and I followed, I had to find a way to get us both out alive before we fell into the Realm of Darkness."

"You got pushed into the darkness?" The greenette became alert.

"Yeah...some...stuff happened. My world got consumed by the Heartless, you see," Lucille explained in minor detail. She didn't want to tell him that Riku was the one who pushed her in there, not when she still didn't understand his reasons for doing so.

"...I'm sorry for your loss," He gave his respects.

"It's okay, I've...accepted what happened now. I was powerless to do anything to protect it before, but I'm determined to find a way to save it, though!" Lucille bravely stated. "Anyway, sorry, Florian, continue," Lucille turned to the small blonde boy and apologised.

Florian shook his head and continued, "Although Seraphim have bodies of their own and they have an immunity in the Realm of Darkness due to our strong resistances to its influence, the same couldn't be said about mortals. Mortal bodies are much more frail, and their hearts are more vulnerable to being corrupted by the realm's heavy influence.

"Yeah, I know that for a fact," The young man whispered to himself, low enough so no one heard him, touching his bandaged arm as he did so.

"Although I could travel through the keyholes like the Heartless can, I refused to leave Lucille behind. Since she had a human body, she would not be able to pass through the keyhole as she was. I was left with only one option-to get us both out. But...since Lucille was unconscious at the time, I...ended up having to break one of our rules as Seraphim."

"Seraphim have rules? First time I heard of this." Chi sounded surprised by this new information.

"I invoked the oath without Lucille's consent. It was wrong of me, but I wanted to save Lucille before it was too late to escape. So now...your heart and mine are now directly intertwined with each other. Therefore, you became my vessel for this realm. In other words, we now share the same body," Florian continued.

"Oh, Florian..."

"Don't forget the risk that if she ends up falling to darkness, you'll end up a Heartless, too," The greenette added.

"What?!" Lucille was horrified by this. Florian...could end up being a Heartless if she ended up giving in to darkness?!

"Yeah, it's just like the relationship between us and our Keyblade Wielders. If they become tainted, so will us chirithy. The oath pact between a mortal and seraph works in the same way," Chi added.

"..."

"I'm really sorry about this, Lucille. If you want, I can cancel the pact, so you don't have to deal with this along with finding your brother and your friends." Florian looked down as he said this.

"That being said, though, I do not think separating yourself from Lady Lucille is a good idea. You can't wander this realm like you could in the Realm of Darkness. Your body isn't made the same way as mortals, and, to Seraphim, this realm is unstable because the balance of light and darkness is always shifting. There's also the risk that a Seraph that isn't in a pact with anyone while in this realm can become enslaved," Chi warned.

"I know, but I can't force Lucille into such a role. At the time, though, it was the only choice I had to save her. If it's what she wants, I'm okay with taking the risk of wandering in the Realm of Light." Florian shook his head.

"Weren't you able to do that on Destiny Islands?" Lucille recalled.

"Destiny Islands was a special exception, remember? The heart of that world had a very strong light. It shielded me. Now that Destiny Islands is gone, I no longer have that safety net to fall on. I am at the mercy of the nature of this realm now."

"So you would risk the safety of your own heart, just to save mine?" Lucille questioned.

Florian nodded. "I know you better than you think. Your heart is a lot stronger than you think it is. I believe in that heart of yours. That's...why I trust you with my life." Florian smiled.

"Flo..."

"Just say the word and I'll cancel the pact. All I ask, is for me to continue walking beside you. Please don't hate me," Florian finished.

Lucille laughed softly. "Dummy, I'll admit, I'm pretty annoyed that you kept something this serious from me, but...I wouldn't be here now if you hadn't done what you did. I would never hate you."

"Really?"

"Of course! Sure, I never asked to be this, but...I'm totally cool with my being your vessel." Lucille smiled brightly.

"So you're going to keep the pact?" The boy asked.

Lucille nodded. "I can't guarantee if I'll be a great example of virtue or if I'll be able to block all the darkness from myself, but, I'm definitely going to do my best to use this power right to protect those precious to me-and keep you from turning into a Heartless, of course. That's very important."

A slow smile formed on the small Seraph's face. "Lucille, thank you."

"Just some guidelines, if you're going to be sharing both my body and my heart. One, no possessing my body under any condition and two...actually that second rule might not be needed since you're a little kid," Lucille ruled out.

"Why would I do something like that? That seems like a terrible abuse of our bond. If it makes you feel better, then yes, I'll be sure to keep privacy of your heart, your body, feelings and thoughts to yourself. I won't peek or abuse my pact." Florian nodded.

"Okay then, good! We're perfect to go! Um...can you tell me how the pact thingie between us works? Also," Lucille then turned to the young man. "How do YOU know about all this? And how can you see Florian?!"

"...I can't see Seraphim, but I have my own reasons for knowing how Seraphim work." He shook his head.

"Huh? Then how did you know I'm here?" Florian blinked.

"I can hear and sense their presence, but for some reason...I lost my ability to see them, ever since..." He raised his bandaged arm and clenched his hand tightly, glaring at the arm with such hate. "Not that you guys need to know, but don't worry, I know that you're not crazy."

"Oh geez, thanks, I feel so much better for that..." Lucille puffed her cheeks.

"I don't know too much about Seraphim pacts, I'm afraid, Lady Lucille We will have to find a gifted expert on such things"

"An expert..." The boy looked thoughtful.

"I really don't know that much myself. Lord Yggdrasil never really went into great detail about what happened during the Age of Fairytales. All I really know is Lord Yggdrasil has lost faith in the hearts of mortals and he forbade anyone to make contact with mortals or form any pacts with them."

"And you just literally threw all that in his face. I salute you, Lord Florian!" Chi praised.

"Heh heh, yeah. He's...probably not very happy with me right now." Florian laughed nervously, although, in truth, he was terrified of what the Elder Seraph would think.

Lucille gently patted his head. "Well, now we have to stick together more than ever. I think we just need to give this guy a good reason to start believing in people again, right?" Lucille beamed.

"Y-yeah! You're right, Lucille!" Florian felt better hearing that. Lucille had a point. Perhaps all the Elder Seraph needed was to see that not all humans were as shallow as the ones that fought in the Keyblade War. And who better to show him that than Lucille herself?

"Yo, I think I know an expert who could give you more details about the Seraphim and their pacts."

"You do?" Lucille became hopeful.

"In truth, I have a friend who knows a powerful wizard called Merlin. He's gifted not only in magic, but in ancient knowledge, too. I'm sure he'll know something."

"Really? Great, we can go ask him, then. Oh, first off, I've got to go find my brother Sora!"

"Sora? Wait, now that I look closer, yeah, you're a spitting image of that boy I saw in the First District. Well, almost a spitting image. You're a girl, after all," He pointed out.

"You saw him?! Please tell me where to find him!" Lucille begged.

"Calm down, he's not dead...yet."

"Mister! Be more sensitive! This is Lucille's brother we're talking about here," Florian scolded, placing his hands on his hips.

The young man sighed. "Look, yes I did see him, but I never actually interacted with him. I did see him fight with that guy with the gunblade-Leon, I think that's his name. Either way, he knocked Sora out and dragged him into that hotel. It wasn't too long ago, so he should still be there."

"Thank you so much, um...who are you?" Lucille started to thank before realizing she never got the youth's name.

"...Zen."

"Thank you, Zen. You have no idea how grateful I am," Lucille thanked him. "Why not come with us? Then we can go see your friend together!" Lucille took a gentle hold of Zen's bandaged hand, which he took back a little too quickly.

"Oh sorry, does it hurt?" Lucille felt like she had done something wrong.

"No, it's...It's just sensitive." Zen shook his head. In truth, there was a more serious reason he needed to keep this arm under control, and having another's hand touch it is just asking for it to lose control.

"Okay, in that case," Lucille blinked before grinning and hooking her arm over his left arm, which was more normal looking.

"H-Hey!"

"Is that better? C'mon, I want to introduce you to Sora. I'm sure he'd want to meet the one who helped to bring us together again," Lucille stated.

"...Ugh, fine. Just don't expect me to be chatty."

With that, Lucille dragged a mostly unwillingly Zen with her as Florian and Chi followed behind.

* * *

Entering the hotel, they approached the hotel desk but saw no one was there. Florian, being very curious about the small bell that was on the desk, decided to ring it a few times.

"What's the purpose of this thing?" Florian asked inquisitively.

"That's the hotel bell. A lot of hotels have them," Zen answered bluntly.

"It's to alert the owner of the hotel that people are waiting at the desk," Lucille added.

"Ohhh..." Florian glanced at the bell again and started to press it again and again out of simple enjoyment. Zen went over and stopped the Seraph from ringing it again by covering his hand over it.

"Stop it. It's not meant to be rang more than once." Zen gritted his teeth while his eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

"Sorry...I...rarely ever left the island, so there's some things that even I still don't know."

"Wait, seriously? You never visited the main island or any of the others nearby?" Lucille asked.

Florian shook his head. "As guardian, I had to always stand guard at the door."

"Wow, I would be climbing the walls if that happened me. And I thought ten years being stuck to a bed in one place was torture," Lucille admitted.

"Wait, what?" Zen's eyes widened.

"It's a long story." Lucille laughed.

"Ahhhh...Why are you ringing the hotel bell? There's no owner here." A new voice entered the room, taking them by surprise. They looked in the direction of the new voice to see it belonged to a girl in her teenage years.

"Um, who are you?" Lucille asked.

"Me, I'm the great ninja Yuffie!" The girl proudly stated, puffing out her chest and pulling a pose.

"What's a Ninja?" Florian tilted his head.

"So, what can I help you with?" Yuffie asked, not seeming to notice Florian at all.

"Guess she doesn't see you, Lord Florian," Chi whispered.

"Ooh, you're Oswald's friend, aren't you?" Yuffie recognized Zen.

"Yeah, I take it he's here as well? Huh, small world. Thought he was looking into finding something," Zen asked.

"He did. Then he heard about our discovery of the Keyblade Master and dropped a visit on Leon."

"Keyblade Master? I thought...it was my brother that was here." Lucille felt a little disappointed.

"Hm? Ooh, are you guys twins by chance? Man, you two are almost like mirror images of each other. Except, ya know, you're a girl like me and stuff."

"Sora? Yes, we are twins in fact. If he's here, can you take me to him?" Lucille requested of Yuffie.

"Sure, I bet he'll feel a lot better knowing his sister is there to greet him when he wakes up. Um, sorry about Leon knocking him out. Heh heh, he's a little heavy-handed, that guy." Yuffie nodded.

"Wait...Oswald...why does that name sound familiar?" Chi curiously wondered, but followed after the others when the chirithy was the last one remaining in the lobby. "Lady Lucille! Wait for me!"

~o0o0o0o0o0~

They were guided by Yuffie to a door that led to the same room Sora was currently occupying, a tall brunette man with a long scar that started from his head to the bridge of his nose standing just outside of it. He was talking to a...rabbit?

It was a talking, walking rabbit, which was short with a black and white coat, currently holding what looked like a key-like weapon over his shoulder with ease. His other arm was on his hip. He was wearing baggy, navy grey pants with pockets, a blue jacket with many zippers and pockets, and he also wore multiple belts that were around his waist, arms and legs. He had big, blue and black battle boots and white gloves that covered his hands entirely.

"Hey, Oswald, I'm back. I also checked the area. There's no Lux in the Second District," Zen called out.

"Hey Zen, welcome back. So no luck in the Second District either, huh? That just leaves the Third District then." Oswald stated after waving to the greenette. "Oh, and who are these folks? Ya new to Traverse Town?"

"M-Ma-Master Oswald?! Waaaahhh! Lady Lucille, save meeeee!" Chi cried out in horror and ran behind Lucille, hiding behind her back.

"So this is the 'mean' rabbit that Chi mentioned. He doesn't look mean, though," Florian clicked.

"So you're the one that's been mean to Chi this whole time! Chi told us you would bully the poor thing," Lucille accused.

"I don't know what that chirithy had been telling you, but I don't do that...not that often anyway," Oswald defended.

"That's not the point, though. If you wanted Chi to be your friend, you have to be nice to people, not torment them," Lucille scolded.

"Some thanks I get for saving you from the Heartless, Chirithy." Oswald scowled.

"You saved Chi?"

"Chi? Wait, you gave it a name? Ah well, better then Chirithy, I guess." Oswald raised an eyebrow then shook his head. "Chi, as you guys call it now, was being attacked by Heartless and I saved it. It hung around with me for a while, then it started saying that a strong light was in this world. I had thought it meant Lux, but obviously not. It ran off before I could even ask it where this 'light' was," Oswald plainly explained.

Lucille looked at Chi who laughed nervously. "I admit, Lady Lucille, I might have over exaggerated my story."

Lucille sighed. "Wait, Zen, why didn't you say anything if you already met Chi?"

"Zen hadn't. The chirithy was only around me for a week or so, and Zen was still in this world investigating during that time," Oswald answered.

"...Chi, we have to have a talk later about telling white lies." Lucille crossed her arms and gave a disapproving look to the chirithy.

"Yes, My lady," Chi whimpered.

"So that's the lead you were telling me about through the comsphere." Zen turned to the rabbit.

"Yeah, I guess the light turned out to be the Seraph that's hanging around you guys."

"You can see me?" Florian blinked.

"Yup, I see you crystal clear, kid." Oswald nodded.

"Who are these people, Yuffie?" Leon asked.

"Hey, Leon, you're not gonna believe it, but this girl is the Keyblade Master's twin sister," Yuffie told him.

"Is that true?" Leon looked at Lucille.

"Yes, Sora's my brother. Can I see him please?" Lucille nodded.

Leon sighed. "Go ahead, he's still unconscious, though, so you'll have to wait till he comes around."

"Thanks!" Lucille thanked before opening the door to the room. Florian followed behind her along with Chi and Yuffie. Zen stayed outside with Leon and Oswald.

"So, you had no luck with finding any clues about Ansem or his reports either?" Leon questioned.

"Nah, not a thing. We're Lux Hunters, though. As much as I want revenge against that monster for what he did nine years ago, how does getting his reports have to do with it?"

"It contains details about his experiments and research on the Heartless. It could prove useful to us," Leon answered.

"I see..."

"How's your arm, Zen? It's stable, right?" Oswald asked with concern.

"I've managed to keep it under control for now. Eventually...it's going to want to feed on more darkness soon."

"So long as you point that thing at the Heartless, then that's fine." Leon shot him a warning look.

"Leon!"

"No, he's right, Oswald." Zen shook his head. "This arm of mine is a reminder of what we lost nine years ago. What Ansem did to me and Ion I'll never forgive him for. I'm just glad Aster remained undamaged from it all."

"Indeed, we would have been in a more terrible situation if we lost Aster as well. We need him for when we take back our home."

"You do realize that he's amnesiac right now, right? He doesn't even remember what happened nine years ago," Oswald warned the both of them. "You can't expect the kid to just accept his responsibility like that."

"I know. Leon, you better not force him into anything." Zen glared.

Leon closed his eyes and sighed deeply. "Aster's a smart kid. He'll know what to do when that time comes. Right now, we're not even close to that point."

"Do you think those reports...could find a way to cure Zen of his...y'know...problem?"

"As much as I would like that, I don't think he would have something that handy in his reports," Zen shot down.

"I've been meaning to ask you, who's Ion? I don't recall anyone back home with a name like that," Leon pressed for an answer.

Zen gripped hold of his bandaged arm and scoffed, "None of your damn business. You wouldn't begin to know how much Ion went through because of that man you called your King." He roughly went to the door next to the occupied one and went inside, slamming it behind him.

"You tripped a serious nerve there, Leon. You're better not asking him about this Ion fella. All I know is that he and Zen were pretty close, almost as close as Zen is to Aster." Oswald shook his head.

"Did this Ion guy get turned into a Heartless?" Leon wondered.

"Who knows? The only one who knows what happened is Zen, and he's not gonna open up to just anyone about something as sensitive as that. He's already got darkness to contend with. He doesn't need any more stress." Oswald stared at the door that Zen went through.

"Fine, I'll keep those questions to myself then." Leon didn't like it, but the rabbit was right. He shouldn't push the kid too far, especially given that he had been a victim of those experiments all those years ago...

* * *

"Sora, thank goodness you're okay." Lucille sighed in relief to a still unconscious Sora. She had sat nearby on the bed, waiting for her brother to wake up. According to Yuffie, Sora had been chosen to be a Keyblade Master, and they had to separate him from the Keyblade to stop the Heartless from tracking him, at least until he woke up again.

"I think these people seem to be oblivious of the fact that Sora is more of a Keyblade Wielder, not a Master," Chi pointed out.

"Even so, being chosen by the Keyblade is no small feat," Florian argued.

"That's true. It's strange, though. There used to be so many wielders just like this one. Now only a handful remain. It just irks me a little that people throw around the Master title like that," Chi reminisced.

"Well, we need to get the kid up sooner rather than later. You got any good tips on waking him?" Yuffie turned to Lucille.

"Not really. Sora sleeps like a log, so it's pretty hard to wake him," Lucille honestly answered.

"I see. Guess we'll have to do this the old-fashioned way. C'mon, lazy bum. Wake up." Yuffie nudged the boy slightly in order to get some kind of response from him.

Much to her surprise, the boy did stir and started to come around. He sat up on the bed and eased the dull pain that still throbbed in his head.

"You okay?" Yuffie asked Sora.

"Uh...I guess..." Sora slowly nodded.

"Those creatures that attacked you are after the Keyblade. But it's your heart that they really want, because you wield the Keyblade."

"I'm so glad that you're okay, Kairi."

"Kairi?!" Lucille and Florian both looked at each other with equally confused looks.

"Kairi? Who are you talking about? I'm the great ninja Yuffie!"

"Huh?" Sora blinked and rubbed his eyes roughly before looking again to see it was indeed not Kairi standing there.

"I think you might've overdone it, Squall." Yuffie rolled her eyes at the man behind her just as the door opened.

"That's Leon," He countered.

"Heh heh, wow, Sora. I think you might need to think about getting glasses." Lucille giggled.

"Sis?" Sora quickly turned his head to his sister. He reached out and pulled a little on her cheeks to check if she was really there.

"Ow! Don't do that! You have no delicacy with girls at all!" Lucille huffed.

"Sis! It really is you!" Sora became overjoyed and hugged her tightly. "I was so worried and scared when I couldn't find you on the island! When I saw the storm that was brewing over there, I never knew my body could run so fast to the docks. Then when I got there, Riku went all weird about doors opening, Kairi disappeared before my eyes, you were nowhere to be found and-"

"It's okay, Sora. I'm alright, I'm here. See? Not a single scratch on me," Lucille reassured him.

"But...what happened to you? How did you end up on this world too? And um...who's the little kid and the flying cat?"

"Flying cat?! That's chirithy to you, young man!" Chi's fur fluffed up in anger.

"Oh, so you can see me too, Sora? It's finally nice to meet you! My name is Florian," Florian smiled and introduced himself.

"Uh, little kid? I don't see any little kids besides you and Lucille here."

"You're one to talk! You're only a few years older than us, Yuffie!" Lucille barked.

"Where is Zen and that rabbit, Oswald?" Lucille asked.

"They left for the Third District to investigate something," Leon answered as cryptically as possible.

That was when Sora saw the Keyblade leaned on one side of the wall. "The Keyblade..."

"Yeah, we had to get it away from you to shake off those creatures. It turns out that's how they were tracking you,"

"It was the only way to conceal your heart from them. But it won't work for long,"

"Huh, I wonder if that's the same with you and me right now, Flo?" Lucille wondered.

"Well, I suppose the pact could act in a way that it helps conceal the Seraph's heart from being located so easily. Not sure if it works for the mortal counterpart, though," Florian theorized.

"I see." Lucille nodded.

"Still hard to believe that you of all people are the chosen one," Leon stated as he picked up the Keyblade with one hand. It teleported out of his hand and back into Sora's. "Well, I suppose beggars can't be choosers."

"Why don't you start making sense! What's going on here?"

"He's got a point, Leon. Let's start with the Heartless, then," Yuffie agreed and started to explain.

"The Heartless?" Sora repeated.

"They're the creatures that attacked our island and are lurking around Traverse Town, remember Sora? Those black things with the glowy eyes?" Lucille started.

"Those without hearts," Leon bluntly added.

"The darkness in people's hearts-that's what attracts them," Yuffie continued.

"And there is darkness within every heart,"

"Hey, have you ever heard of someone named Ansem?" Yuffie questioned.

"Ansem?" Florian repeated the name.

"No, we never heard of anyone like that on our islands." Lucille shook her head in response.

"He was studying the Heartless. He recorded everything into a detailed report," Yuffie informed.

"Unfortunately, the reports were scattered to many worlds when ours fell,"

"Well, that's frustrating. It sounds like we could have learned some valuable information." Chi was disappointed.

"Then...what about Sora's Keyblade? What does that have to do with anything?"

"The Heartless have great fear of the Keyblade. That's why they'll keep coming after you, no matter what." Leon told them as he moved further up into the room.

"Well, I didn't ask for this," Sora answered honestly.

"The Keyblade chooses its master, and it chose you." Yuffie winked.

"So, tough luck." Leon gruffly shot down any hope of Sora getting out of it.

"Is that true, Chi?" Lucille turned to the chirithy.

"Yes, Keyblades can be very picky about their owners, fickle even." Chi nodded.

"Huh, it must see something in you, Sora, if it chose you. Though, I have to admit...I'm kinda finding it hard to see it myself." Lucille scratched her cheek.

"Aw geez, thanks, Sis!" Sora sarcastically responded with a pout.

"Hahaha! I'm sorry." Lucille laughed.

"How did all this happen?" Sora looked down at the Keyblade and asked out loud. "I remember being in my room, waiting for Sis to come back..." He then gasped and stood up from the bed. "Wait a minute! What happened to our home? Our Islands? Riku! Kairi!"

"You know what? I really don't know." Leon lowered his head.

"..." Lucille didn't know either, but if what Aster and Florian said was true, it was consumed by the darkness and dragged into the Realm of Darkness. She couldn't say that to Sora, though. She didn't want to worry him with things that were only speculation-very logical speculation but just still all theory.

"I'm kinda sad that Zen couldn't be here with us. Hey, wait a minute, does that mean he and Oswald were the ones who brought us to the First District? Cid and Aster mentioned a rabbit and his partner were the ones who found us," Lucille wondered.

"Now that I think about it, they probably were. The information they gave us does match those two," Florian recalled what they learned back at the accessory shop with Cid and Aster.

"Aw man! I never got to say thanks!"

"Say, Lucille? Did you see Riku and Kairi while exploring this place?" Sora asked.

"No..." Lucille shook her head. She had no clue about Riku's whereabouts, and right now she was still upset with him, but he is one of her best friends at the end of the day. She deserves a damn explanation!

And Kairi...she already knew what happened to her, but she couldn't tell Sora that. It would break his heart.

"Well, I'm sure they're out there somewhere, too!" Sora tried to cheer her up when he saw how deflated she looked.

"Yeah, you're right. Can't lose hope, right?" Lucille looked at her brother and nodded.

"And we'll all be able to go back home, too!" Florian also encouraged.

"Exactly!" Lucille beamed.

"Yuffie, let's go join Aerith. She should be there by now with the other visitors." Leon turned to the ninja girl.

"Other visitors?" Florian questioned.

"Leon!" Yuffie called out, pointing to a part of the room opposite to them.

A knight-like Heartless popped out of nowhere, looking ready to pick a fight.

"Heartless!" Lucille summoned the Lux Arma and got ready to fight.

"Huh?! When did you get an actual sword?! And it's so shiny." Sora's eyes widened.

"Um...Long story. Let's say stuff happened, and Florian helped make it," Lucille quickly explained.

"Yuffie, go!" Leon turned to the ninja girl, motioning her to get out of the room, which she did so after slamming the door open.

"Sora, let's go! Lucille, you help Yuffie and Aerith!"

"Gotcha." Lucille nodded. "Florian, Chi, let's go after them!"

"Coming!" Florian nodded and ran behind her with the chirithy following as well.

"Wait, shouldn't we stick together?" Sora called out.

"Don't worry, Sora. We'll meet up once this is over! I promise!" Lucille called out to Sora before leaving the room entirely, noting the walking dog she saw along with the duck, who was flattened when the door opened as she ran past.

"Stay safe, Sis." Sora followed after Leon using the other door that led to the balcony.

* * *

Lucille, Florian and Chi ran out of the hotel and tried to see Yuffie and Aerith from where they stood. "I hope they're all right. Heartless don't mess around," Florian prayed.

"Yeah, let's see if we can find them." Lucille started to head for the lower half of the Second District until some colourful looking panda jumped down behind her from one of the roof tops, placing her in a bear-like grip. "What?! Hey! Let goooooo!" Then the said panda-looking thing jumped back up towards the rooftops.

"Lucille!" Florian panicked and looked up.

"Sorry about that, kiddo. Just need to borrow your little vessel for a little while. Don't worry, I guarantee you'll have her back in one piece. Toodles~" A female voice echoed across the district before they saw multiple puffs of pink smoke go off on the rooftops, indicating the use of teleportation magic.

"Oh no! We need to help Lady Lucille!" Chi cried out.

"Where did they take her, though?" Florian's mind raced for any possible locations.

"How about the Third District?" Chi asked.

"I suppose that's as good as any place, let's go. Don't worry, Lucille, we'll save you!" Florian was filled with determination as both he and Chi ran to the Third District to see if Lucille had been taken there.

* * *

"Hey! Put me down, you shameless kidnapper! And tell your thug to let me go!" Lucille barked. For some reason, Lucille got the impression that the panda looked hurt by being called 'thug'. She found herself in what looked like a lonely little wizard house hidden in a cave surrounded by water.

"Hey, don't pick on my Dream Eater babies like that. Honestly, it's not like we're gonna hurt you or anything," A womanly voice flatly told her.

"Dream Eaters? You mean they're not Heartless?" Lucille blinked.

"Duh, do they look like your regular run of the mill Heartless? These are beings from the Dream World. However, gifted people like moi can bring them forth into the real world if you got the magic to back it up." The owner of the voice appeared in a puff of pink smoke again.

She looked eighteen years old. Her silver-blonde hair fell all the way to her waist, with her hands firmly on her hips. She had vibrant lilac-shaded eyes that seemed to illuminate in the neon lights.

She wore what looked like a sleeveless, long blue-grey collared witch coat with a white skirt, black skin-tight shorts underneath. She wore blue ankle boots and silk armbands with frilly ends that stretched from her forearms to her wrists. She also wore a double-tipped mage hat with bells on both ends.

"Um...who are you?" Lucille wanted to know who this strange woman before her was.

"I'm so glad you asked, my dear. I am the Magnificent Moira Delune, but just Moira will do," The woman introduced herself while striking an elegant pose.

* * *

And that's all for this chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. =D

Don't worry, next chapter will be the last part of the Traverse Town segment. Then we can actually start going to other worlds. =3

I have to ask a curious question to you guys. Do you guys want me to add original worlds, or do you want me to add the worlds that were in Kingdom Hearts, but have them arrive before/after Sora, Donald and Goofy arrive? =3

Let me know what you guys think of the story so far in a review. =3

Also, I think Moira is going to end up being one of my favorite additions. XD But we'll see =3

Until the next chapter, happy reading, All. Moogle Empress out!

Moogle: Kupo!


	5. Episode 5: Goodbye Traverse Town

**Episode 5: Goodbye Traverse Town**

* * *

 ** _Last Episode_**

 _"I'm so glad you asked, my dear. I am the Magnificent Moira Delune, but you can just call me Moira," the woman introduced herself while striking an elegant pose._

* * *

Lucille only had a dumbfounded look on her face and made a sharp turn around to start heading towards the exit. "I'm outta here."

"Awwww c'mon~ Don't be like that, Lulu~" Moira whined and tackled the brunette girl.

"Why are you calling me that?! We barely know each other. Hey wait, how did you know my name?"

"That is the question, eh? How would little ol' me not only know your name but know exactly when you would be out of that hotel to chase after those two girls, Yuffie and Aerith?"

"Huh?! You knew about that, too?" Lucille turned around, looking shocked.

"Impressed by my foresight, I imagine? If you must know the answer, yes, I do have some precognition powers-not super crazy stuff like seeing in the far future, but I can predict some events with perfect accuracy depending on the world I'm in. Guess Traverse Town is one of my lucky worlds~" Moira stretched her arms as she walked around Lucille.

"Whoa, so you're like a seer?"

"Bah! Don't be silly, I'm a witch-a pretty damn good one. Under the apprenticeship of the great Master Matoya herself." Moira puffed out her chest proudly.

"Um...I don't know a Master Matoya. Is she really that great?" Lucille asked curiously.

"Well of course you wouldn't, silly goose." Moira giggled, flicking her nose. "With worlds being disconnected as they are, only a very rare handful know of my Master. Anyway, Master Matoya is legendary. Even though she's blind, she's still a force to be reckoned with. A master of all the branches of magic, her presence makes all tremble before her! She who was able to see the past, present and future with only her crystal ball!" Moira described excitedly with much energy.

"Oh wow, she really does sound impressive." Lucille blinked in awe. This Master Matoya sounded like a powerful woman indeed.

"I know right?!" Moira beamed excitedly. She then coughed to straighten herself. "Anyway, Lulu~ I have to apologise for dragging you away from your little Seraph. I'm sure he's on his way to the Third District, where he'll meet up with the former first prince of Disney Kingdom, Oswald, and the boy with the indomitable will to even resist the temptations of the darkness," Moira started.

"We should go meet up with them, so we can explain to them, as well, my reasons for snatching you away back then." Moira walked towards her panda-like dream eater and dismissed it into a puff of pink smoke again.

"Wait...you just kidnapped me just to let me go?" Lucille's eye twitched. This woman made no sense!

"Well, I actually did have a reason. To beat that man at his own game, one must play by his rules, and then break them when he least expects it." Moira grinned.

"That man?"

"Oh, you'll learn about him in due time. It's not for you to know yet. Let's just say, you'll thank me one day when you find out what he's capable of," Moira brushed the question off flippantly.

"Well, I won't complain if you're allowing me to go back. Why are you going with me to the Third District?"

"You're gonna need all the help you can get for what lies ahead, dear Lulu~" Moira smiled sweetly. With that, the duo jumped over the rocks so that they reached the fire-emblem door that led into the Third District.

"This will only take a moment," Moira told Lucille as she started to focus a fire spell.

* * *

Florian and Chi ran to the Third District as fast as they could, but they still could not see either Lucille or the one who took her.

"How are you doing with the distance between you and Lucille?" Chi asked.

"I'm still fine. I think the connection would become strained if she was taken to another world," Florian reassured the chirithy.

"So she's still in this world. That's a relief." Chi nodded.

They did find when they arrived in the actual plaza of the Third District Zen and Oswald, who had seemed to be busy with their own line of work.

"Hey, that's Master Oswald and Sir Zen! Perhaps we could get their help," Chi spotted.

The two in question heard footsteps coming closer to them and turned around to see the Seraph, Florian, and that chirithy.

"Huh? Why are you two here? Where's the girl that was with you?" Zen asked.

"You have to help us! Lady Lucille has just been kidnapped by some unknown figure!" Chi explained loudly.

"What? Where did this happen?"

"In the Second District, but we have no idea-! Huh? That's odd. I can feel Lucille's heart getting closer to us." Florian stopped mid-sentence when he sensed that Lucille was close by now.

Just then, a loud explosion could be heard from one part of the district. They ran over to find that it was a door that was covered in fire and smoke, and two people walked out of it coughing.

"You-! Cough cough! You nearly blew us up!" Lucille coughed from the smoke.

"Okay, maybe I...cough...used a little...cough cough...too much fire magic."

"Lucille!" Florian ran over and hugged Lucille.

"I'm sorry, Flo. That probably scared you, didn't it?" Lucille smiled at the small Seraph.

"Huh, guess we weren't needed after all." Oswald smirked.

"I assume that woman there was the kidnapper," Zen figured.

"Okay, I know...cough...this looks bad. But trust me, I have good reasons for what I did," Moira started.

Florian glared at the witch.

"Relax, little knight. As you can see, she's in one piece. Didn't I promise that? Besides her face being covered in soot," Moira teased.

"And who's fault was that?" Lucille huffed as she started to use her arms to wipe off the soot.

"Okay, mind telling us why you just kidnapped the little lady here out of the blue like that only to just let her go? You're either really bad at kidnapping, or you have some kind of problem. " Oswald crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently.

"Okay, where do I begin? Ah, perhaps introductions are in order. I am the Magnificent Moira Delune!" Moira introduced herself in the same pose as she did for Lucille the first time.

"...What the hell was that?" Zen raised an eyebrow.

"I don't question it anymore." Lucille rolled her eyes.

"You catch on quick, Lulu~" Moira winked.

"Lulu?" Florian tilted his head.

"She won't stop calling me that, and it annoys me." Lucille sighed.

"Don't tell me, you must be Zen, the one with the claw of darkness, yes?" Moira smirked.

Zen clutched his bandaged arm tightly at that. "How did you know about it?" He narrowed his eyes dangerously.

"I'm a witch with precognition powers. That's not all. I know that the little kid over there is the Seraph that was previously the Guardian of Destiny Islands, and you, rabbit, are the former first prince of Disney Kingdom, one of the worlds that is still overflowing in light, yes?" Moira added.

"...Huh, you do know your stuff," Oswald gruffly replied.

"Wait, that was all true? I thought she was just making it all up." Lucille pointed at the silver-blonde-haired witch.

"You thought I was lying? That's so cold, Lulu~" Moira sniffed.

"Do you really have the power to see into the future, Miss Witch?" Florian asked.

"Well, yes and no. Yes, on certain worlds my precognition powers can work without fail, but also no because I'm still an apprentice and my power still has to grow before I can be as good as my Master. Now she's a true pro."

"So in other words, you suck most of the time," Zen jabbed.

"Pfft, you're a real charmer, aren't you? Anyways, the reason why I kidnapped Lucille back at the hotel was because if I hadn't, someone else would have instead, and it wouldn't have been a friendly face like me."

"Someone was planning to kidnap Lucille? But why?" Florian narrowed his eyes with concern.

"Some guy in a trenchcoat. Hell if I know what he looks like underneath it." Moira shrugged.

"So you predicted I'd get abducted by this guy?" Lucille raised an eyebrow.

"Yup, I even got the timing right. Heh, didn't even know what hit them~" Moira proudly claimed.

"But really, Oswald? You're a prince?" Lucille turned to the rabbit.

"Former prince. I ran away from my world and trained under Master Yen Sid, who is a retired Keyblade Master, himself." Oswald crossed his arms.

"Why did you run away?" Chi pressed.

"Ehhh...some things happened. Let's just say that my brother and I had an argument and it didn't end well. So I left to train as a Keyblade Master since I could do much better at helping other worlds than ruling a world of my own. Mickey always was the more soft-hearted of the two of us. It hurts me to say it, but he makes a better king than I ever would, even the townsfolk love him more than me," Oswald confessed.

"I'm sure that's not true. They probably miss you, and your brother does too," Lucille tried to cheer up.

"It's nice of you to say, little lady. I know Mickey and my Ortensia would miss me. Still, it's better if I don't step a foot in that world again, otherwise they'll never let me leave the castle!"

"Hahaha! I can just imagine that!" Florian giggled.

"Aw c'mon kid, don't make fun of me," Oswald groaned.

"Oh~ Is this Ortensia your sweetheart?" Lucille teased.

"It so happens she is. I even still send her letters to not let her worry about me," Oswald defended while trying to stop his face from burning red.

"Aww, that's so cute!" Lucille grinned.

"Now, let's get back to the main topic at hand. There's also another reason for my actions," Moira said to get their attention again. "Okay, so you see, I was given orders from Master Matoya. I was meant to stand by and observe your actions here in Traverse Town and also make sure that Lulu here met both the rabbit and his partner," Moira explained.

"Huh? Why would meeting these two be important? Oh, no offense meant, guys." Lucille looked confused and pointed at the two before realizing her mistake and apologising.

"None taken." Oswald shrugged.

"Because they're your travel buddies, silly goose." Moira smiled sweetly.

"Travel buddies?" Lucille raised an eyebrow.

"Whoa whoa, wait a minute, and who says we would agree to something like this to begin with?" Zen argued with the witch.

"I know because I've seen it happen." Moira winked.

"Oh, wait a minute! Zen, you told us your partner knew someone who could tell us about how Seraphim Pacts worked!" Lucille clicked as a recent memory resurfaced.

"Oh yeah, I did say that," Zen recalled.

"Ah, you must be talking about Merlin. Well sure, if you guys need to talk to the guy, I could always contact him. He was planning on coming to Traverse Town soon anyway," Oswald told them.

"Great! Any information we can get would be helpful," Florian cheered.

"Anyways, where you guys go from here is up to you. My job for now is done." Moira turned to leave.

"Huh? You're not staying?"

"Nope, my job is to give you a nudge in the right direction when you need it. Master's orders. I guess you could say that I'm an observer," Moira answered.

"Yet you choose to intervene in order to prevent that trench coat guy from kidnapping her?" Zen noticed a flaw in her statement.

"Details~ Who needs them, right?" Moira brushed it off like nothing, though. "Just know, Lulu, I'll be in Traverse Town whenever you need me~"

"I doubt that." Lucille's eye twitched.

"Aw, you don't mean that, really." Moira snickered.

"Miss Witch...why are you not allowed to join us?" Florian questioned.

"It's like I said, I can only be an observer. I can offer advice and give you guys a push in the right direction. In fact, here, a little gift from me to you~" Moira gave what looked like a small blue sphere with a vertical golden ring around it to the rabbit.

"That's a comsphere, isn't it?" Oswald raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Indeed, attach that to your communication device in your Gummi ship and you'll be able to contact me any time you want~" Moira chirped.

"I've been meaning to ask you, Moira, those creatures you were able to summon-dream eaters, right? Is that your forte in magic?" Lucille asked curiously.

"Ooh, a sharp one, aren't ya? Yup, while I do have excellent talent in all branches of magic, summoning Dream Eaters is what I'm best at. I have more than my Kooma at my disposal."

"Kooma?"

"The panda-like Dream Eater that I used to...ahh...subdue you. That's my pet name for it," Moira answered.

"Can you say that I'm sorry to that Dream Eater for calling it a thug? I feel kind of guilty about it," Lucille asked.

"...Hahaha! You're really something else, Lulu~" Moira laughed. "Sure, I'm sure Kooma doesn't think that much on it. It's a bit simple-minded, that one."

"Anyways, I'm off. Be good now, all of you~" Moira bid her farewell before teleporting away in a puff of pink smoke.

"Well, she was...different," Lucille commented.

"She's a loony," Zen scoffed.

"A loony with precognition powers. Don't underestimate her. She may act like a clown, but she's not playing around when it comes to her magic. It's pretty strong," Oswald warned.

"Sis! There you are!" A familiar voice boomed into the district.

"Sora! I'm glad that you're okay." Lucille smiled and waved.

"What happened to you, Sis? Leon said he didn't find you with Yuffie and Aerith when they met up again," Sora asked.

"Oh, she got kid-mmph!" Chi was about to answer before Lucille quickly reached out and closed a hand over the chirithy's mouth.

"Um, stuff happened. Y'know, those annoying Heartless and all that." Lucille laughed nervously.

"Why are we being discreet about it?" Flo whispered.

"Are you seriously asking me this? This is Sora we're talking about here! If he heard something like that happened, he'll never let me out of his sight again!" Lucille whispered back with urgency. She then let go of Chi, who remained quiet this time.

"Oh yeah..." Florian sweatdropped.

"So this is her brother. I really can see the resemblance," Oswald noted.

"And you're here because?" Zen turned to the brunette boy.

"Looking for the boss of the Heartless," Sora answered.

"Boss of the Heartless?" Lucille repeated.

Just then, they saw a small explosion go off on a balcony not far from them, and two beings were blown off. They fell to the lower half of the Third Distict, landing in a dogpile where Sora had been standing.

"Sora! Are you okay?!" Lucille bent down to her brother's level.

"Owwww..."

"The Key!" Both of them yelled out in relief that they finally found who they were looking for, and that was when they also saw a certain rabbit.

"Prince Oswald?!" Donald cried out.

Oswald facepalmed. "What are you two nimrods doing here? You're meant to be back at the Castle looking after Mickey," Oswald scolded.

"Well, I'll be! It's been so long since we've seen you, Prince Oswald! You're looking great!" Goofy waved to the rabbit despite his current situation.

"Where have you been?! Everyone's been worried sick about you!" Donald pointed.

"Don't change the subject! Why are you here?!" Oswald barked.

Before he could get an answer, though, walls suddenly rose up on every corner, blocking any way of escape for anyone.

"We'll have to save the questions for later. We got company," Zen told them. He didn't want to show his arm off to these strangers, but he had no choice. His bandaged arm transformed into a a black claw and it completely engulfed his arm, pulsing with dark energy. It looked exactly like a Heartless claw..

"Y-Your arm!" Lucille gasped.

"Save it for later. Let's survive first!" Zen snapped.

Lucille knew he was right. Now was not the time for questions. She brought forth Lux Arma once again and got ready to fight.

Sora, Oswald, Donald and Goofy also got ready to fight. Florian brought what looked like shaman pieces of paper.

"Um...Paper?" Lucille questioned Florian's choice of weapons.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing," Florian reassured her.

Their enemy appeared as multiple knight-like heartless, which, through their teamwork, made short work of the small army of Heartless.

It didn't take long for a new enemy to appear, a larger foe that fell from the sky in multiple parts. It assembled itself together to reveal a giant Heartless that looked like a knight in full armour.

"I think we just found their leader." Zen charged his arm, ready to strike.

"Split into small groups and take down its limbs first, then we'll worry about the head and torso," Oswald instructed.

With that, the battle began. Sora and Donald took the left arm, while Zen and Oswald took the right leg. Goofy and Chi took the other leg, while Lucille and Florian took the right arm.

Chi used its tiny claws to make swipes at the legs, which, despite their small size, when powered with light can prove just as effective as any weapon. Goofy used his shield to bash into it, trying to move it to a corner away from the main body.

As the right leg charged for Oswald, he made a clean swipe with his Keyblade, recoiling it back and into Zen's grip with his Heartless claw. Using it, he started to extract the darkness from the leg into his arm, severely weakening it for Oswald to make a final slash to destroy the leg part.

With the arm now feeding on dark energy, he aimed the arm at the other leg that Goofy and Chi were tackling, firing off a volley of dark balls that went straight for their intended target and also finishing it off completely.

Now legless, the head and torso, still bound together, started to charge at the ones who destroyed its legs. A ring of multiple papers surrounded the Heartless, making it stop mid-charge.

"Binding Chains!" Florian casted. The ring of papers turned into silver chains that tied down the torso to the ground, making it completely immobile.

Lucille took care of the right arm with a few strikes of the Lux Arma while Sora and Donald finished off the left arm in a combination of the Keyblade and Donald's magic.

"Now's our chance. Hit it with everything at once while I still have it pinned down," Florian told them, concentrating his seraphic magic to keep the chains holding the Heartless down in check.

Doing just that, they launched an all-out attack on the torso and head while Florian's spell kept it from moving away.

With one last blow from Sora's Keyblade, the Heartless shook violently and broke the chains casted by Florian, blowing the small Seraph off his feet and onto the ground in recoil from the spell being broken.

The Heartless violently shook and writhed until its head fell off on to the ground below. A giant heart was freed from the torso and made its way up into the sky before vanishing. With the heart gone, the Heartless began to fade away until it completely disappeared.

"Flo! Are you okay?" Lucille ran over to Florian's side once the battle was over. She placed the Lux Arma back on her belt as she did so.

Florian stood up and brushed off the dust from his clothes. "I'm okay. That usually happens when a spell breaks for me since my body is still small."

"That was amazing. I didn't know you could do stuff like that with paper," Lucille cheered.

"Not with just paper alone. I can change and morph objects into different things, remember? This counts in battle, too."

"Even so, that was awesome!" Sora agreed with his sister.

Zen's arm turned back into his bandaged one, with the bandages still mysteriously intact despite the claw being able to normally tear through anything.

"Wak! What's with that crazy arm of yours?" Donald demanded.

"So this is what Miss Delune meant when you had a 'claw of darkness'," Chi confirmed.

"...Yeah, you happy now? This is what I was hiding." Zen crossed his arms and glared daggers at the Chirithy.

When the others came back after checking on Florian, Lucille gazed at Zen with a concerned look.

"Does it hurt...when you summon it?" Lucille asked.

"...Why do you care?" Zen scoffed.

"Hey, she was just asking a question!" Sora bit back.

"I know this looks bad, but trust me, Zen can control that thing. He's had it for nine years now. We've been trying to find a way to reverse it but no luck. So for now, we're just Lux hunting."

"Mux?" Goofy tilted his head.

"Lux!" Donald corrected.

"They're fragments of light that contain a lot of power. Even just one has a vast amount of light within it. In the past, we could find them everywhere, but nowadays they've become much harder to search for. They could end up being inside objects or even people," Zen told them.

"We've been collecting them in the hopes we can find some way to utilize them in a way that would protect the worlds from the Heartless, but finding Lux, even for a Keyblade Master, is a task. Would be easier if we had a Chirithy or Seraph to help us pinpoint them."

"But we don't, so if we don't find Lux, we go search for relics from the ancient past to glean any answers as to how to end the Heartless threat."

"You mean from the Age of Fairytales?" Chi gasped.

"Yeah, preferably from that era, but we'll take what we can get." Oswald shrugged.

"Oswald, we should go. We weren't able to find any Lux here, so we should move to the next world."

"Okay, just want to know one thing. Why are you two here? You should be back at the Castle!" Oswald glared at the court wizard and captain of his brother's castle.

"Um, well you see, Prince Oswald..."

"You're a prince?!" Sora took a step back.

"You've just realized this? They just revealed it before that fight we just had with that Heartless." Lucille facepalmed.

"Hyuck! The king asked us to go find the one who carries the 'key', and he's that fella over there. He asked us that since he went off to probably go find those Ansem reports to find out what's going on with the other worlds recently," Goofy spilled everything and pointed to Sora.

"WAK!" Donald jumped up in panic.

"...HE WHAT?! Oswald screeched.

"Now now, Prince Oswald, breathe..." Donald tried to calm down.

"That mouse is going to be the death of me! He had one job and he's off gallivanting in other worlds! Who's taking care of the kingdom while he's away?" Oswald growled and pulled on his rabbit ears in frustration.

"Oh, that would be Queen Minnie, Prince Oswald," Goofy replied once again.

"Okay, Zen. Any future worlds we come across, we're adding finding that insufferable mouse on our agenda," Oswald turned to the greenette.

"What? We're getting dragged into this too?"

"He should be there protecting the castle from anyone trying to invade it or sabotage our cornerstone, not endangering himself like this! I'll find that mouse myself and drag him back on that throne if I have to," Oswald countered.

"I can't tell if he's being a good brother or a scary one," Lucille sweatdropped.

"Alright, keep your ears on," Zen sighed. "Look, I don't know anything about what that witch was talking about, Lucille. What you do from here is up to you, but, whatever you decide, just make sure that it's your heart that decides it, not because some quack told you so."

"Hey!" Donald retorted.

"Well, let's go, then. We should gear ourselves up before going back to the Gummi ship." Oswald sighed.

"Right. See you around, then. Try not to get eaten by any Heartless," Zen told them, as both he and the rabbit departed from the district.

"Jerk." Lucille puffed her cheeks out.

"So you guys were looking for me?" Sora pointed at himself, to which Donald and Goofy nodded.

"They, too, had been seeking the wielder of the Keyblade."

"Whoa, geez, Leon, where did you come from?!" Lucille jumped, noticing Leon there.

"What happened to you? I thought I told you to go help Yuffie and Aerith," Leon stared hard at her.

"Hey, give her a break. She probably got caught with the Heartless. There was a ton of them," Yuffie defended.

"Besides, Yuffie was able to take care of any Heartless that tried to come near us." Aerith smiled at the ninja girl.

"You know it~"

"Yeah, that definitely happened," Lucille played along. Even though she didn't like lying, she definitely couldn't let Sora find out she got kidnapped just moments after they'd split up.

"Hey, why don't you and your sister come with us? We can go to other worlds on our vessel," Goofy offered.

Lucille was quiet, almost as if she was thinking about something.

"I wonder if we can find Riku and Kairi?" Sora wondered out loud.

"Donald. Goofy. If you are taking my brother with you, can you promise that you'll take good care of him?" Lucille mysteriously requested.

"Wak?"

"Ya not coming?" Goofy curiously questioned.

"Huh? Why are you saying that? We aren't going together?" Sora looked hurt by Lucille's reply.

"I'm sorry, Sora. I wish I could go with you, but...for some reason, my heart tells me that I have another path to walk that's slightly a detour from your own. I know that we'll bump into each other during our different journeys. Call it a hunch, I guess," Lucille tried to explain, although, it did twist her heart a bit to do this to her brother just when they got reunited.

"...Are you going with that Oswald guy?" Sora asked.

Lucille nodded. "Don't worry, I won't ever be too far away. We're twins, after all! We've got a bond that can't break." Lucille winked.

"...I understand. Just promise me that we'll all go back to the Islands together, okay?" Sora smiled sadly.

"You bet! With Riku and Kairi and Flo, too! We'll go home together!" Lucille nodded. "It's a promise, so you have to keep it on your end, too, Sora. No heroics, understand?"

"Okay, anything for you, Sis." Sora nodded.

"Okay, Duck, if anything happens to my baby twin brother, I'll turn you into duck soup!"

"Wak! Why just me?!"

"Don't ya worry, Sora's safe with us." Goofy nodded in agreement.

"Baby brother? You're only TEN minutes older than me!" Sora huffed.

"That still means I lived longer than you for ten minutes." Lucille smirked.

"Lady Lucille, if you plan to catch up with them, we should depart," Chi informed her.

"Okay, Chi. Alright, Sora, stay safe out there, okay? And don't get carried away with that title of yours, got it?" Lucille waved.

"Who do you think you're talking to? I should be telling you that." Sora sighed. "See you soon, okay?"

Lucille gave Sora a thumbsup before running off with Florian and Chi behind her as they hurried to the First District.

"Lucille? Why did you choose to join Mr. Oswald and Zen? Is it because of what Miss Witch said?" Florian asked her as they continued their pace.

"It's hard to explain. I don't know if it has anything to do with Moira's words, but my heart tells me this is the right choice," Lucille explained her reasoning.

"The heart is truly a mysterious thing," Chi monologued as they continued their way.

* * *

Back at Cid's Accessory store, Oswald and Zen had bought various new gummi blocks to add to their gummi ship.

"This is a huge order. Are you planning on going into deep interspace or something?" Aster whistled.

"You could say that." Zen shrugged.

"Hey, Zen. Did you manage to bump into that girl that you and Oswald carried back to this shop earlier?" Aster pressed.

"...Yeah, you could say we bumped heads," Zen bluntly answered.

"Did she see your hand, by chance?" Aster continued to press for answers.

"Yeah, she saw what was underneath the bandages."

"How did she react?"

"Why are you asking me this?" Zen raised an eyebrow.

"Just answer the question, trouble," Aster scoffed.

Zen sighed. "I...don't know. She didn't recoil in fear like most people who've seen it. The only thing she asked is if it hurts every time I use it."

"Heh heh, that sounds like her, alright. She's a cute little thing." Aster snickered.

"She's a bit young for you." Zen rolled his eyes.

"Pfft, you have little faith in me. I'm fully aware of that." Aster mimicked his best friend's actions in response. "I'm just saying, though, she's an endearing girl. I'd say she might rub off on you if she decides to travel with you guys to find her friends." Aster winked.

"Not gonna happen," Zen scoffed. "Besides, she's probably off with her brother by now. It's better this way. Even if she did decide to work with us to find her friends, I can't guarantee that this arm of mine won't attack randomly. I'm scared of actually hurting, or worse, killing someone with this monstrosity." Zen shook his head, staring at his bandaged arm.

"You need to have a bit more confidence in yourself. You've managed with that claw for ten years now. I'm pretty sure you have it under full control by now." Aster gave a sad look.

"I wish I could say that, but...the calling is getting stronger, every time I use it to extract darkness from Heartless. I'm still a human who's heart still has darkness inside at the end of the day." Zen looked away.

Just then, they heard the bell door ring, indicating that someone had entered the shop. Imagine their surprise when they saw who it was.

"Lucille?!"

"Hey there, little lady. What brings you here?" Oswald gave a short wave.

"Is there room on that Gummi Ship of yours to take on three more people?" Lucille smirked.

"Wait...are you actually serious?" Zen had a dumbfounded look, while Aster gave a triumphant look, which Zen glowered at.

"Hi Aster, where's Cid?" Lucille waved to Cid's assistant and approached the shop desk.

"He's gone to install the gummi ship parts that these guys had just bought." Aster pointed to the duo next to him.

"So, you decided to take up Moira's words and join us?" Oswald questioned.

"Nope, this isn't about what Moira said. This is something that my heart decided on its own."

"And what about the seraph and the chirithy?" Oswald pressed on.

"Wherever Lucille goes, I'm fine with going, too," Florian answered.

"I am of the same mindset as Lord Florian. Where Lady Lucille goes, I will follow." Chi nodded.

"Are you crazy, you idiot?! Have you forgotten that I'm the one with a freaking Heartless claw here? Aren't you at all scared of this thing? If I lose control of it, it could rob you of your heart just like that. I'm no different from the same monsters we're fighting against," Zen argued.

"That's not true." Lucille shook her head.

"...What?" Zen blinked.

"I admit, that claw is pretty scary to look at, and it may have the same ability to steal hearts like other Heartless. I don't think you're that kind of person, though. For starters, you don't steal hearts," Lucille countered.

"How do you know that I don't?" Zen shook his head.

"True, I don't know that. That's just what my heart tells me." Lucille smiled. "Also, that arm you have bandaged, it's warm. I'm not an expert on Heartless or anything, but...I imagine all Heartless claws to be cold to the touch. Yours isn't," Lucille added to her argument.

"You don't strike me as a bad person, Zen. If Lucille trusts you, I will, too."

"...So long as I remain Lady Lucille's self-appointed guardian, I have no complaints either," Chi stated.

"When did you become my Guardian?" Lucille raised an eyebrow.

"..."

"Well, Zen, can't argue with such a determined girl, can ya?" Oswald smirked.

"...Fine, I just don't care anymore. Do whatever you want," Zen sighed in defeat.

Lucille beamed and nodded. "We'll do just that~"

"So, you'll be looking for your friends, right? And I want to find that brother of mine before he does something moronic, while searching for Lux fragments and any details about the Age of Fairytales," Oswald told her.

"Yup, if we work together, I'm sure it'll be a win-win for everyone," Lucille agreed.

"Alright, ya got yourself a deal. From now on, we're a team, so I expect you guys to pull your weight, too. This won't be any luxury cruise."

"Oh, I knew that." Lucille nodded.

Oswald smirked. "Then welcome aboard, Lucille. I have to say, your help will make our searches way more painless."

"Sure, if we can help in any way, let us know." Lucille punched the air.

"Alright, rabbit. I upgraded yer ship with those new parts. Ya better not break 'em again. Otherwise, I'll tear yer ears off and use them as polishing rags," Cid grumbled.

"...Noted." Oswald gulped.

"I guess you guys will be going, then. Don't be a stranger now. Let us know if you ever need any accessories from our store or new gummi blocks if you feel brave enough to incite Cid's anger."

"Ya sayin' somethin', boy?" Cid warned.

Aster rolled his eyes at Cid then continued, "Also, there's an item shop that's opened up just below our store down the stairs. Pop by there any time you need new provisions," Aster also informed them.

"Thanks, Aster. We'll keep that in mind. Keep yourself safe, and don't be a hero and take down any Heartless by yourself. Who will I have to gripe to if you end up getting yourself hurt?" Zen softly smiled at his best friend.

"He smiled." Lucille shivered.

Florian tilted his head in confusion. "What's so bad about that?"

"Not bad, just...very un-Zen."

Zen glared daggers at Lucille. "Whatever, flower-head."

"Flower-head?!"

"Oh, I get it. That's because you still have the Paopu flower in your hair band, right?" Florian clicked.

"I'm surprised it hasn't wilted yet." Lucille gently touched the flower that was still strangely healthy and glowing its usual radiance.

"Heh heh, I say things have finally gotten interesting for Zen. At least he won't act like a statue most of the time." Aster chuckled.

"What's that meant to mean?!"

"Nothing~" Aster smirked. "Take care, guys," he then finished with a smile.

* * *

In a dark-filled room with only a green magic circle showed the images of Sora, Donald and Goofy. A circle of shadow figures stared at them and began to talk amongst themselves.

"That little squirt took down that Heartless! Who'd have thought it?"

"Such is the power of the Keyblade. The child's strength is not his own."

"Why don't we turn him into a Heartless? Haha! That'll settle things quick enough."

"And the brat's friends are the King's lackeys. Swoggle me eyes, they're all bilge rats, by the look of them."

"You're no prize yourself."

"Shut up!"

"Enough. The Keyblade has chosen him. Will it be he who will conquer the darkness? Or will the darkness swallow him? Either way, he could prove quite useful." Maleficient approached the group.

"Enough about the brat, though. What are we going to do about this lot?" One of them changed the images on the magic circle to Lucille and her newly formed group.

"Ah yes, the one with the seraphim pact. I did not think it was possible anymore since the Seraphim went into hiding," Jafar noted.

"She doesn't look much of a threat. I bet I could take her down in a good match," Oogie Boogie bragged.

"Do not underestimate those who carry the blessing of the Seraphim. They're in fewer numbers but still a threat, no matter how ordinary the girl may appear on the surface," Maleficient scolded.

"You're also forgetting she's got back up with her," Hades scoffed.

"What's worse, that rabbit is the King's brother, and he's a Keyblade Master, too."

"Fear not, my friends. We will bide our time and observe them for now. They either will conquer the dangers ahead, or they will fall to darkness. Either way...I think this girl could become very useful bait."

"Are you talking about that street rat you found on the outskirts of this castle?" Jafar questioned.

Maleficient simply gave a smooth, cruel smile. "She's connected to both the boy with the Keyblade and the one we found here. It wouldn't be hard to gain the boy's cooperation if we feed him the right information."

"That's so evil! I love it!" Ursula cackled.

"Guess we'll leave that in your hands, then," Hades shrugged.

"Indeed, you just concentrate your efforts on the Keyblade Master and his minions. Leave the boy Riku and that girl to me," Maleficient ordered them while the cruel smile she held never left her face.

* * *

And there's Chapter 5. We're finally out of Traverse Town, guys! Whooo! XD

Now it's onwards to Wonderland! /o/

I'm thinking of probably putting little Omake moments at the end of the main story part of the chapters and side stories during the story. Think it would be a fun little thing to do. It would kinda be like skits from the Tales of Series. XD

I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far, and I hope you continue to do so. =3 Please leave a review to let me know your thoughts and feedback. ^-^

Until next chapter, happy reading! Moogle Empress, out!

Moogle: Kupo!


	6. Episode 6: Poker Face

**Episode 6: Poker Face**

* * *

The newly formed group of five arrived at Oswald's Gummi Ship, just outside of the gates of Traverse Town. It was...a lot bigger than they imagined.

"Whoa...so this is a Gummi Ship!" Lucille awed.

"Did you say this was a Gummi Ship or a castle?!" Chi squeaked.

"Impressed huh? Meet the Ortensia, my little beauty, I designed her y'know." Oswald proudly bragged.

"Yeah, but Cid and Aster were the ones who built and upgraded it for you." Zen interjected.

"You named your Gummi Ship after your special someone, Mr. Oswald?" Florian noticed. Although Oswald and told the two that they didn't need any formal titles here and insisted he'd just be called Oswald, he just couldn't seem to shake the Seraph's politeness off, but it was better than 'prince' at least.

"W-well yeah, what's wrong with that? It's perfectly normal to give ships a girl's name." Oswald defensively responded.

"Aww, that's so cute~" Lucille smiled sweetly.

"A-anyway! Enough of this pointless conversation! As you can see, we've made quite a lot upgrades and adjustments to the ship, so in a way, it also acts like a home away from home."

Lucille's mind eye pictured a Gummi Ship with a house on top of it. "So it's like a house and Gummi Ship in one? That sounds so cool!"

"Well I couldn't say it's 'cool', but it's very handy to have, especially when you're travelling from world to world." Zen shrugged.

"To be honest, those new additions we made came at a good time, now we have more rooms to accommodate everyone." Oswald admitted.

"Well what are we waiting for? I wanna see the inside of this ship!" Lucille squealed and approached the Gummi Ship.

"Me too!" Florian looked just as excited about the ship as Lucille did.

"Those two such children." Zen sighed.

"Well she is still only fourteen, Zen. And you are only just fifteen yourself, yes? So that makes you a child still too." Chi answered flatly.

"Your **point** , furball?" Zen poked the Chirithy's belly while giving a cold glare.

"EEEEK! Scary!" Chi ran as fast as the Chirithy's legs could after the brunette girl.

"Geez, and the Chirithy thinks I'm the one that bullies it here. Anyways, the sooner we can get on board, the sooner we can embark from Traverse Town." Oswald motioned them to head for the ship.

* * *

Once inside the Gummi Ship, Florian and Lucille were already investigating every room they could peak at. Oswald had headed to the cockpit to make sure all their controls were operational before they took off.

Chi followed Zen around as they kept an eye on their most excitable members.

"Sweet! We have a kitchen! This will be good for making sure to keep everyone in good condition."

"What do you mean by that?" Zen asked the brunette girl.

"Well for making food silly, surely you guys know how to prepare food right?" Lucille answered.

"For your information, I am capable of preparing food." Zen gruffly responded. "Like...riceballs." He then added quietly.

"What? But that's not very filling at all, especially if we're gonna do more fighting with Heartless from here on out." Lucille argued. "What about Oswald?"

"Pfft, last time he tried, he almost burned the ship down." Zen smirked.

"...Okay, from now on, I'm in charge of cooking, since you both are clearly not eating right."

"When did you become our _mother_?" Zen argued.

"Just now~" Lucille blew a raspberry at Zen.

"I didn't know you could cook, Lady Lucille." Chi was impressed.

"When we'd go the playground island for the day, I would make some simple homemade lunches for Sora and my friends. Besides, this give me a good chance to really stretch my cooking skills, in truth I learned most this from cooking books."

"Wait, you've just read cooking books?" Zen didn't look very convinced.

"You'd be surprised what you can learn from just a book. Trust me **I** know." Lucille winked.

Zen sighed. "Fine, so we'll blame you if the kitchen gets set on fire."

"How rude! I'm perfectly capable in the kitchen." Lucille retorted.

"Hey Lucille, I found a room where there's a lot of old relics. It's really cool!" Florian had arrived to inform Lucille of his findings.

"Sounds like he found our Vault." Zen confirmed.

"Vault?"

"Basically, it's where we put all our discoveries that we found on our journey, Oswald did tell you that we were researching on the past as well." Zen explained further.

"Oh, sooo, I take it that's out of bounds?" Lucille asked.

"No, you're free to look and examine them if you want. Just be careful with them." Zen shook his head.

Lucille smiled and nodded. "Thanks, we'll make sure to be careful."

"Hey, if you guys are done exploring the ship, head for the cockpit so we can leave this world already." Oswald informed them through a wired speaker that seemed to be attached to every room.

They headed off to the said cockpit, too find it was a relative small space with only three chairs and a bubble-shaped window that acted as their mirror outside.

"Alright, I've just checked all the controls and gadgets and it looks like they're all in working order, just what I expect from Cid's quality of work." Oswald told them.

"So we're good to go then, where do we start though? There's countless worlds to choose from." Zen wondered.

"Hmm...Maybe we should check the nearest world we find and just hope for the best." Lucille suggested.

"That sounds reckless. Although, we do have your help, as well as a Seraph and Chirithy now, that'll make the search easier to narrow down."

"Oh yeah, I completely forgot, you still have that comsphere thingy from Moira don't you? What is it exactly?" Lucille questioned when she noticed the comsphere that Moira gave them a while back.

"Oh yeah, as much as she's a weirdo, I figure it might be a good idea to keep a channel open to her with our communication device, it allows us to contact other Gummi Vessels or other comspheres, providing that they give you one that's in tuned to theirs." Oswald explained a matter of fact tone.

"Do we _really_ have to keep in contact with her?" Zen complained.

"Well...I have to admit with Zen, she is kinda loony, but she did help us, in her own bizarre way." Lucille spoke her thoughts on the matter.

"Y'know what they say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer." Oswald smirked as he slipped the comsphere into the device so it was accessible for contact.

"...I don't get it." The saying was lost on Florian.

"Don't worry about it, Flo. Alright then! To the other worlds!" Lucille punched the air.

"Well first off, make sure to sit down, the take off on this ship is usually pretty bumpy." Zen instructed.

"What are you implying?" Oswald narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

"But there's only three seats, where's Chi and Flo gonna sit?" Lucille pointed out.

"Well Florian's a Seraph, so he can just take shelter in your body since you guys have that pact, that reminds me, have to keep an eye on when Merlin finally arrives. He's taking his darn sweet time getting to this world." Oswald suggested.

"And the Chirthy is tiny enough to sit on your lap. So there you go, seating arrangements done, now sit."

"Hmph, you don't need to be such a smart aleck about it. Are you going to be okay with that?" Lucille glared as she sat down, then turned to the small Seraph.

Florian nodded. "I'll be fine, this might be a good chance to recover my light."

"Recover your light?" Lucille repeated as she tilted her head in confusion.

"That's part of the pact, Seraphim needs light to flourish, like Heartless needs darkness, so when they choose their vessels in the Realm of Light, they make sure that person has a very strong light inside them, basically people with pure hearts." Zen explained.

"Oh I see...Well I don't see any harm in that, if it helps Flo."

"Trust me, there's no harm to either party. The only time it would become a problem if that vessel falls to darkness, for obvious reasons that you already know."

"...Yeah." Lucille slowly nodded and curled her hands that were resting on her legs at the thought. She had to do her best to make sure that never happened, she would not let Flo become a Heartless, she would stake her life on it.

Florian turned into a ball of light and entered Lucille's heart, the sensation was warm and ticklish. "Heh heh, that tickles."

 _"So it didn't hurt?"_ Florian's voice echoed.

"Didn't hurt at all, it actually felt like a wave of warmness flowed through me." Lucille nodded.

Chi hopped over and looked shyly. "Do you...mind if I sit on your lap, Lady Lucille?"

"Not at all, take a seat." Lucille smiled and shook her head.

Chi pleased with that jumped on Lucille's lap and settled itself nicely.

"Alright then, fasten your seatbelts, boys and girls. We're taking off!" Oswald grinned and pulled back on the two controls that acted as the steering wheel of the ship.

The Ortensia came to life as its engine ignited and allowed the ship to lift off from the ground and shoot out into the ocean of stars above.

* * *

"Wow! I've never seen the stars so up close before!" Lucille left her seat and pressed herself against the window, admiring the starry view in front of her, they were so close, she felt like she could grab one.

"They say every star is actually another world." Oswald explained as he kept his eyes straight ahead.

"Really? So, whenever I looked out at the stars at night, I would be looking up at other worlds, but there's countless of stars." Lucille was amazed by this fact.

"That's right, when a star goes out, it's a sign that the world had fallen into darkness, or the Realm of Darkness rather."

"What is the Realm of Darkness? I know you guys keep bringing it up but I never heard of such a place on my islands, is that like hell?"

Zen covered his mouth trying to stifle his laugh.

"Hey! I was being serious, Zen!" Lucille growled.

"Sorry, you just come across as such an naïve child with a question like that."

Lucille puffed her cheeks in annoyance in retaliation.

 _"Well, she's not entirely wrong. They forbid me to go into the Realm of Darkness until I had matured, but Lord Yggdrasil and my teacher told me of it. It's a dark place that warps and twists with no sense of time. So you could end up there for a short time and leave to find decades have gone by in the Realm of Light. They say if a normal person stays there long enough, they could get corrupted and become a being of the dark as well."_ Florian explained as his voice echoed.

"What do you mean by matured? You mean become an adult?" Lucille questioned.

 _"I guess."_ Florian answered simply.

"Lord Florian is a young Seraph after all, Lady Lucille. So it could be that his body had not yet properly developed enough to withstand the dark power of that realm." Chi added.

"Either way, this Realm of Darkness is where all the worlds that get destroyed by the Heartless end up when those worlds lose their heart. In case you didn't know, every world has a heart of their own, just like us." Zen continued.

"I see. So Destiny Islands lost its heart, that's why it disappeared." Lucille looked down.

"Well, no point in mincing words but that's the most likely scenario, especially if the door to that world's heart was forced opened. The question I want to know is who was it that opened it?" Oswald sighed.

"..." Lucille recalled the door in the secret cave being wide open and Florian had been knocked out to ensure that. Whoever opened that door, did they intend the Heartless to find the heart of their world?

"Ooh, I think we've just found our first world." Oswald pointed out to direct their gaze to a odd-looking world that laid before them. "According to the Star Chart, this world is called 'Wonderland'."

"We have a _map_?" Lucille blinked.

"Heh heh, this is one of my home world's most prized treasures, it basically records any new world we encounter and recalls all the worlds that were encountered previously by past explorers and yours truly, I don't understand how it works exactly myself, but it's pretty handy for explorers such as ourselves." Oswald turned around and showed them the Star Chart, which apparently was a precious heirloom of his home world.

"And you stole it?!"

"Correction. I _borrowed_ , Lucille." Oswald's eye twitched.

"But you ran away from home didn't you? So if you took it without them knowing, doesn't that count as stealing?" Florian pointed out.

"Oh c'mon, not you too, Florian." Oswald groaned.

"Does that really matter right now? We should be investigating this 'Wonderland'. Do you think we'll find anything there?" Zen asked.

"Who knows? But we'll find out once we land. Remember Zen, we leave no world unturned no matter how weird or unimpressive it is." Oswald shrugged.

"Right, right, I remember." Zen rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Alright! Maybe I'll find Riku and maybe Sora's here too, and King Mickey's...um...Guards I guess?"

"Heh, they're not the brightest pair, but they're have unyielding loyalty to my brother. You could say they're his best pals too, so just call him his friends. That's basically what they are beyond the formalities." Oswald chuckled.

"Oh, I see." Lucille smiled. "I hope they do find the King, I wonder where he went though?"

"I dunno. But I know what I'm gonna do when I do find that **mouse**." Oswald replied, gritting his teeth.

"They said something about the King checking other worlds in order to investigate something right? Maybe we should ask the locals about them seeing a mouse?" Zen asked.

"Zen, we can't, I'm a Keyblade Master remember, even we got rules to abide to, we can't interfere with the affairs of other worlds." Oswald shook his head.

"Huh? You can't interfere?" Lucille looked confused.

"It's something like this, Lucille. All worlds have their own way of life and customs that differ from world to world. They also run on a different time axis from others as well, even your world. In order to prevent another disaster like the Keyblade War, it was agreed that all Keyblade Masters and Seraphim are abide to never reveal the secret of the outside worlds or interfere in the affairs of other worlds as it is not our place to get in the way."

"Oh, Flo, you had rules like that too, right? That's why you couldn't tell me anything before." Lucille recalled.

"That's right. Lord Yggdrasil was very serious about it. He said that while curiosity is not an evil thing by itself, it can lead to an unhealthy desire for forbidden knowledge, which would then lead that person into the darkest depths of darkness."

"...No offense but this Elder Seraph of yours sounds like a buzzkill." Zen bluntly stated.

"He's not wrong though, That's how Seekers of Darkness came into being after all." Oswald shook his head.

"Seekers of Darkness?"

"Keyblade Wielders who had fallen into Darkness, or rather they abuse the power of Darkness, which beckons the Heartless to their command, especially if they have a strong heart." Oswald answered.

Lucille shivered at the thought.

"As far as I know though, there's only one Seeker of Darkness out there, and no one's seen hide or hair of him in ten years." Oswald added in an attempt to reassure the brunette.

"That...feels wrong though. You mean even if someone's in danger, we can't get involved?" Lucille wasn't sure if she could stomach such a rule.

"Depends on the situation. However..." Oswald then smirked. "I think we can bend the rules, I mean surely ya can't stop yourself from wanting to help someone in distress. Besides you, Zen and your little Seraph pal aren't Keyblade Masters. Can't be helped if I somehow get dragged along, right?" He winked.

Lucille then beamed and nodded. "Right!"

"Either way, our main goals is keep an eye out for your friends and find any Lux fragments we can our mitts on, everything else is secondary, okay?" Oswald stated.

"Alright." Lucille could agree with that. _'I wonder if Kairi's heart ended up here? Kairi, wherever you are now, I really hope you've found a safe place.'_

"Alright, hold on kiddies, we're going in!" Oswald made a boost of speed towards the new world and lowered the ship gradually as they entered it.

* * *

Once the ship had entered the outer rim of the world, Oswald instructed them that since the Ortensia was too big to land in this world, they would have to enter the world directly themselves, so they were told to jump out of the Gummi Ship.

"What?! Jump from this height?!" Lucille cried out.

"We'll be fine, it looks like this tunnel leads right down into the world itself." Oswald encouraged.

"You mean that seemingly _endless_ black hole that **you** want us to jump into?" Zen sarcastically fought back, pointing accusingly to the questionable rabbit hole that looked more like a bottomless pit.

"Oh don't be so dramatic. We'll be fine, I've jumped from heights far higher than this, kid." Oswald scoffed.

 _"It'll be okay Lucille! I'll make sure to use my float spell if we need it."_ Flo reassured.

"It's truly a sad day when I have to have a child to encourage me." Lucille sighed in defeat and hung her head in shame.

"Why couldn't we just use portals of light, Master Oswald? That's far less scary."

"Look here, Chirithy. I might be a True Keyblade Master but there's things even I still don't know how to do. That kind of trick was only used back in the Era of Fairytales when the worlds were all still one, I don't think there's anyone alive now who knows how pull a stunt like that off." Oswald placed his hands on his hips.

"Oh yeah." Chi stood corrected.

"Well...We should put our faith in Oswald, I'm sure he wouldn't tell us to do this if he thought it was too dangerous. Let's do this Flo!" Lucille decided to be postive and took the first plunge head first.

"Lady Lucille, wait for meeee!" Chi panicked and followed right after her.

"Lucille, wait!" Zen was taken aback by the girl's boldness to just jump right in. "Oswald, if we end up dying, I'll haunt you forever on the other side." Zen warned before jumping next after her.

Oswald sighed. "You'd think he have faith in me after all these years. Oh well." With that he jumped last into the rabbit hole.

~o0oo0o0o00o0~

The gravity of the world was beginning to set in and their descent slowed to a gentle pace, almost like if they were hovering in the air while they were still technically falling.

They saw all kinds of odd objects pass by them, all from chairs, tables, even clocks of all kinds and odd paintings that were upside down.

Eventually they landed, surprisingly gracefully, on what looked like brown and orange checker floor with a sofa, some flower pots and a lamp that all seemed to be completely flattened to the ground.

Florian took this chance to finally leave Lucille's body and take physical form again.

"You're okay to be moving around here?" Lucille asked.

Florian simply nodded. "Yeah, that short rest really helped out. Thank you, Lucille."

"Resting in my heart really helped you out after all, huh?" Lucille blinked.

Florian smiled. "Certainly did, I feel energized again." He punched the air excitedly with one hand, almost copying Lucille's own 'air punching hand' signature. "I'm really looking forward to seeing what this new world looks like."

"Me too! I bet there have some really unique stuff here, it all seems so...wacky and strange, but in a good way!" Lucille went starry-eyed at the thought of exploring another world, just like she had wanted to do when she was a small child with her twin brother and best friends. Only that...there were all far apart from each other right now, and that made Lucille's heart twinge a bit in pain. Damn, she already misses her brother and it hasn't even been a day.

"Remember you two, we're not here to play around. We've got a job to do." Zen reminded them.

"Is there any time where you aren't all serious?" Lucille grumbled.

"I'm just setting our priorities straight here." Zen countered.

"Ugh, you remind me so much of Riku, it's horrifying." Lucille muttered to herself.

"...I'm going to scout ahead and see the layout of this world, you two wait here for Oswald. Don't worry, the rabbit will know how to find me." Zen told them as he started to head forwards towards the twisted hallway.

"Still, be careful, alright Zen?" Lucille told him.

"...Yeah, I will." Zen slowly nodded, although for a moment Lucille could have sworn she had saw Zen looked surprised by her reply. Before he completely left, he turned his head slightly although not looking directly at them. "...Thanks." Zen added quietly before leaving.

"Zen is a strange one, isn't he?" Chi noted.

"He's not a bad guy, just got a serious attitude problem, just like someone else I know." Lucille commented.

"I can't help but feel a strange sense of deja vu though with him. I must be imagining it." Chi shook its head. _'It's like how I thought Lady Lucille was Master Ava when I first sensed her. But who does Zen remind me of?'_

That was when the royal rabbit himself landed to the ground himself after having a late start on his jump into the rabbit hole.

"Hey, Oswald, good timing! Zen just went ahead to scout the area." Lucille informed him.

"Is he now? He never changes that kid. Let's catch up with him then, while he can take care of himself, I still don't like to leave him by himself, he can sometimes push himself too much if he's by himself."

"Yeah, hopefully he hasn't gone too far." With that, the group followed the twisting hallway to what looked like white door. When Lucille went to open it, not only one door but multiple doors, each one getting smaller and a different colour opened up.

"Well...that's different." Lucille blinked but shook the thought off as they entered inside.

* * *

They found themselves inside of a house? And just like the room they had just exited from, all the furniture, paintings and even the oven had been flattened into the ground, well, everything except the bed. They saw Zen who seemed to looking around for any means of an exit from this room other than the one they just arrived from.

"Wow, and here I thought you'd be miles ahead." Lucille teased. Zen turned around to see them.

"I would have gotten further ahead, but...we seem to have a problem, there's no other door out of here, other than that tiny one down there." Zen reported, also pointing to what looked a tiny door with a doorknob with a face.

"And how the heck are we suppose to fit in there?!" Oswald glared at Zen.

"Hey, don't' look at me." Zen shrugged his shoulders.

"Mmmm...I think I might be able to slip inside if there was a keyhole." Florian suggested.

"Oh yeah, Seraphim can enter other worlds through the keyholes right?" Lucille recalled something Florian had told her previously.

"Right, and since we have our pact, you can too." Florian nodded.

"Wait, that's how the Heartless are able to sneak inside other worlds, are you saying the Seraphim can do the exact same thing?" Zen looked alert.

"Well...yes, it's a little scary that we have some similarities with the Heartless." Florian admitted.

"..." Zen was deep in thought, seemed as if he was thinking of something serious and important.

"Maybe so, but Seraphim use their ability to enter through keyholes in order to protect other worlds from the Heartless, that's a huge difference." Chi pointed out.

"Still, we can't leave Zen, Oswald and Chi here, we'll need to find another way." Lucille shook her head.

"Right, maybe we could shrink ourselves to fit in the door?" Florian suggested.

"Shrink ourselves how?" Oswald raised an eyebrow.

The door yawned loudly. "Must you be so rowdy? Honestly, can't a door get any sleep around here anymore?"

"..."

"AAAH! It talks!" Lucille squeaked and subconsciously grabbed Zen's arm for support, Zen blinked with a confused look while Lucille, once realizing what she had done, released her hold and coughed before looking away to hide the embarrassment on her face.

"Wow, that's so cool!" Florian beamed.

"B-but...doors don't talk, n-not in my world anyway." Lucille stuttered.

"Welcome to the beauty of other worlds, island girl." Zen an mischievous smirk as he teased her.

"Island girl?! Now you're just making fun of me!" Lucille snapped in retaliation.

"Zen, don't antagonize her." Oswald scolded with a sigh.

"Now that's just plain rude, it is perfectly normal for doors like me to talk." The doorknob gruffly retorted before yawning once more. "I need more sleep."

"Wait! How do we make ourselves small? We need to get in." Lucille stopped the doorknob from falling back to sleep to ask her question.

"Why not just drink the bottle on that table over there?" A chair and table popped up from the floor where it was flattened, on top of it was two small bottles, one with a blue label and the other red.

"These...?" Oswald looked at the two bottles suspiciously.

"Hmm...Well, one way to find out." Lucille picked up the blue bottle.

"Whoa, reality check here, island girl. Are you really going to drink that thing without even checking if the doorknob was telling the truth?" Zen argued.

"I don't see why it would have any reason to lie to us." Lucille replied.

"Ugh, you are far too trusting of strangers. Ever heard of 'Stranger Danger'?" Zen facepalmed.

"Lady Lucille, allow me to take the first sip. I will confirm for sure if it will indeed shrink us." Chi offered.

"That's true, you can't really kill a Chirithy, they're surprisingly sturdy little fellas." Oswald saw logic with this idea.

"I can't endanger Chi like that." Lucille shook her head violently.

"Please believe me, Lady Lucille. It'll turn out okay." Chi reassured the brunette girl.

Lucille sighed and bent down to hand the bottle over. "Alright, I trust you."

Chi nodded and took a small sip of the bottle. Very shortly after, the effects of the bottle kicked in, making the Chirithy smaller in size.

"Yup, it's a shrinking potion alright!" Chi squeaked out from its now shrunken body.

"Awww, Chi looks more cuter like that." It reminded of her of those little accessory charms that her Dad would make. Although her Dad didn't look it, he was very good at making keychains and special charms that he said had a little 'magic' in each creation. Even Sora and Lucille's necklaces were made by his hands.

...Great, now she missed her parents even more.

"Well, there you go, Zen. It's not poison after all." Oswald smirked.

"...Could have been, nothing wrong with taking caution."

"Accept your losses, kid." Oswald snickered.

"Okay, now it's our turn." Lucille picked the bottle back up and took a sip herself, one by one, the others followed until they had become small enough to enter the door.

"Wow, this feels so weird, I feel like an insect." Florian looked up to the table, which was now much bigger than any of them.

"I hope we'll be able to get that other bottle change back later." Zen looked up to the table see the bottle with the red label remained.

"Well if we have to, we can always climb up. The important thing is that now we can explore this world fully." Oswald told him.

"Okay, onwards and upwards! This time, it should work!" Lucille pointed the way forwards excitedly and ran over to the door and tried to open it without waking the actual doorknob a second time.

But sadly the door remained closed. "Aw c'mon really? We made ourselves small for _nothing_?" Oswald's eye twitched.

"Hmm...Wait, that bed over there, it looks like it's covering something." Florian pointed to the bed that was the only thing that wasn't painted into the floor or walls of this room.

"I have an idea, wait here." Zen clicked and turned around to jump on the chair and then to the table. Thankfully it looks like gravity allowed them to jump higher in this world, even in their tiny forms.

He went to the bottle with the red label, with much effort managed to drink from it that allowed him to change back to normal size.

"What do you plan to do?" Lucille shouted out, since her small form made her voice quieter than usual unless she raised her voice.

"You'll see." Zen simply answered as he pushed the bed into the wall, Zen's theory turned out to be right, as the bed became part of the wall like everything else in this room, and in the process, revealing a way out of the room.

"An exit!"

"Awesome, nice job Zen!" Lucille praised.

"Why would someone cover the exit though?" Zen wondered.

"Never mind that, just hurry and shrink down already!" Oswald told him.

"Alright, alright, I'm going." Zen rolled his eyes and proceeded back to the table to drink from the shrinking potion again.

While he was doing that, the rabbit turned to Florian. "How's it going on your end? Are you sensing any lux fragments?" Oswald asked.

"Hmmm..." Florian concentrated his senses to see if there was any lux nearby.

"There's a strong light here, I don't think it has anything to do with Lux though, this one seems like a different light."

"A different light?" Oswald repeated in confusion.

"If it's not Lux...it could be the presence of another Seraphim or..." Chi wondered before it gasped. "Oh! Could it actually be one of the seven?"

"One of the seven?" Lucille raised an eyebrow.

"Wait, you're not talking about the Seven Princesses of Heart right? Why would one of them be wandering around this place?" Zen looked to the Chirithy for an answer as he returned to the group once he had shrunk back down.

"Um...sorry for sounding ignorant, but what are the Seven Princesses of Light?" Lucille raised her hand.

"I can't blame ya for not knowing. It's something only a handful of people know, the Seven Princesses of Light are basically seven maidens with the purest of hearts. Think of them like Seraphim but mortal beings like you and me." Oswald explained.

"Whoa...and one of them is here? Wait, does that mean they're all royalty?"

"Nah, it's just a fancy term that just stuck over the ages, you don't have to be actual royalty to be a Princess of Heart." Oswald shook his head.

"So those seven could be anyone?" Florian asked curiously.

"Any girl at least, I highly doubt you'll see a guy being a Princess of Heart." Zen smirked.

Lucille couldn't help but giggle. "Yeah, that would be pretty awkward."

"Hmmm...If there's seven princesses, doesn't that mean there should be seven Princes of Heart too?" Florian questioned.

"Huh, you know, I never really thought about that." Oswald looked thoughtful.

"Not that I'm aware of, I'm afraid Lord Florian. According a legend I am familiar with, there are suppose to be seven of light and thirteen of darkness. Although, we can't eliminate the possibility that there could be such a thing."

"And who or what are these thirteen of darkness, furball?" Zen pressed.

"Well...it is suppose to connected to the Legend of the Legendary Keyblade, the X-blade. It is said to be an incredibly powerful Keyblade and the only one of its kind that can unlock or lock Kingdom Hearts."

"Oh yeah, I heard of this one too. Master Yen Sid mentioned it to me before during my training with him. It ended up getting broken during the conflict in the Keyblade War, thus it released seven of light and thirteen of darkness." Oswald recalled.

"That's the one, Master Oswald. I didn't your Master was so well-versed in such ancient legends, he must truly be a Master of the Keyblade." Chi was impressed by the rabbit's knowledge.

"He is, or was, he's retired now, but he still helps out new bloods with their Keyblades. Maybe I should recommend that brother of yours to him, Lucille?"

"Sora? Hmmm, I would have to ask him first, I mean he's not actually the academic type. Why would you recommend Sora to learn from your Master?" Lucille scratched her cheek.

"Well, I've been a Master for some time, so I've been round the block with my share of Keyblade Wielders. He's amateurish at best but that's probably just because he's a new blood and he'll get better over time. One's for sure, Sora's got the right potential, right now it's dormant, but given the right circumstances and proper training, he could become a unique wielder."

"Unique? Aren't you guys mostly the same? I mean you essentially carry the same weapon." Lucille pointed out.

"That's not what I mean. Anyways, enough of this idle banter. We need to get back to our task at hand."

"Wait, the furball hadn't answer my question about the thirteen of darkness yet." Zen reminded.

"To be honest, Zen. I don't know, the legend was pretty elusive about the thirteen of darkness, but we can safely assume that the seven of light mentioned in the legend are the seven Princesses of Heart." Chi answered.

"I see. That figures." Zen felt rather deflated by the response.

"What are we waiting for then? Let's explore!" Lucille beamed and dashed off with Florian and Chi following behind.

"Hey, Island Girl, this isn't a field trip! And don't wander off on your own!" Zen scolded.

"Heh heh." Oswald snickered.

"What is it, Rabbit?" Zen glared.

"Nothing~" Oswald sang before walking ahead, Zen gave a suspicious look but decided to shrug it off and follow the rest of the group to whatever laid beyond the small exit.

* * *

The next place the door seemed to lead to a hedge maze area with an hedge archway shaped like a heart. In fact, there were heart shapes everywhere in this place, even in the distance where they saw a castle, it was also covered and designed in heart shapes.

"Someone's got a thing for hearts here." Lucille stated the obvious.

"You think we'll find anything here?" Zen asked.

"We'll just have to look around. Lucille, you and Florian check the next area, Zen and I will check this maze for any lux fragments, Chirithy, you're with us." Oswald instructed.

"Her name is Chi, not Chirithy." Lucille corrected.

"Her? Since when did we give this dream eater a gender?" Zen pointed to the Chirithy.

"Well...we Chirithy were created to be helpers to the Keyblade Masters, I suppose since my former Master was female, I too would consider myself one." Chi answered.

"Tch, fine. Guess we'll stop calling you an it then." Zen shrugged.

"Alright, _she's_ going to be going with us." Oswald corrected.

"Wait! Should I not be with Lady Lucille? I'm her guardian!" Chi argued.

"Chi, you declared that all on your own. I don't remember asking you to guard me." Lucille replied innocently.

"Please don't leave me alone with the rabbit!" Chi cried.

"Oh c'mon, I'm not going to pull on your ears or whiskers, alright?" Oswald scoffed at the Chirithy's irrational fear of him.

"You promise?" Chi wanted to know Oswald's answer.

"Yes, I promise. We just need you to help us with locating Lux if there's any nearby, that's not too much to ask is it?" Oswald replied.

"...Fine." Chi agreed although she didn't feel very confident in her choice.

"We'll see you guys soon then. Let's go Flo." Lucille waved.

"Coming." Florian nodded and walked alongside Lucille as they headed into Lotus Forest.

"You sure those two will be okay by themselves?" Zen asked, although he was puzzled as to why he felt concerned about leaving those two by themselves. It wasn't like they couldn't fight, they proved back in Traverse Town that they could fight their own corner, so why did he still feel unsure?

"They'll be fine, you've seen how they handled that Heartless in Traverse Town. But I have to say, I'm surprised at you, do I sense...actual concern in your voice?" Oswald grinned.

Zen shook his head. "You're imagining it. C'mon, let's get searching." Zen frowned and pushed on ahead.

Oswald sighed. "Always so dishonest with his own heart." With that, the rabbit and Chirithy followed in their search to find Lux in the area.

* * *

Meanwhile in Lotus Forest, Lucille and Florian had found themselves in what looked like tall grass that towered over them like walls and lotus pads all over the place.

"Whoa, I can see why they call this place Lotus Forest." Lucille looked around their surroundings to see anything that looked out of place, before they entered, they saw a sign that told them what this place was, it literally was a forest of lotus pads.

"So...what do we do? I mean, I know they told us to look for Lux Fragments, but I don't know what they look like." Florian wondered.

"Good question. In hindsight, we probably should have asked Zen or Oswald about that." Lucille nodded.

It was then that they heard a girl's cry for help not far from where they stood, reacting without thinking, they ran over to where they heard the plea for help. When they did, they found the one responsible for the scream along with multiple Heartless that had cornered her.

"Oh no! Oh please! Please stay away!" The blonde haired girl in the blue and white dress took a few steps back in fear until she ran out of space behind her.

"Hang on, we're coming!" Lucille brought out the Lux Arma and lunged into the fight, swiftly taking care of each Heartless with four swipes of the seraphic weapon.

"Oh...guess they weren't that tough." Lucille scratched her head. "Oh well," She then simply shrugged her shoulders and placed the Lux Arma back on her belt.

"You can summon and dismiss that blade at will you know. It belongs to you, after all. All you need to do is think it and it'll summon to your hand without needing to carrying it around all the time." Florian advised.

"No way, I could have done that all this time?" Lucille blinked.

"Um, excuse me?" The blonde-haired girl interjected politely, making the duo turn to face her. "I must thank you for jumping in to save me back there. That was an awfully close encounter with such unfriendly creatures." She thanked them and gave a curtsy as she did so.

"Oh, um, you're welcome, Miss. No thanks is needed, I mean, those guys had it coming anyway." Lucille laughed nervously to hide her anxiety when it came to first encounters with strangers.

"Oh, how rude of me. I had forgotten to introduce myself, my name is Alice, pleased to meet you both." The girl revealed her name and once again gave a curtsy.

"I'm Lucille and this is Florian, it's nice to meet you Alice." Lucille smiled.

"Miss Alice, what brings you to this place all by yourself? Isn't it dangerous?" Florian asked.

"Well, I was trying to find that White Rabbit that I followed here, I saw him run into this place, but I seem to have lost sight of him again, oh dear." Alice explained her reason for being in the Lotus Forest.

"A White Rabbit?"

"Oh yes, he wore such unusual clothes, oh, he also had a trumpet and a big pocket watch with him." Alice described.

"Oh, whew, it's not Oswald then." Lucille quietly gave a sigh of relief.

"Hm? I beg your pardon, Miss Lucille?" Alice innocently asked.

"Oh! Um, nothing, just talking to myself. Oh, and you don't need to call me 'Miss', just call me Lucille." She covered herself before correcting Alice.

"Oh, very well then, Lucille. May I ask what brought you to this forest?" It was Alice's turn to ask them for their reason for being here.

"Ah, we're looking for someone and some fragment of sorts. First, would you happen to have seen someone by the name of Riku or Kairi here?"

"I'm dreadfully sorry, I know neither of those names." Alice shook her head.

"Oh...no it's okay, Alice. It was a longshot anyway." Lucille shook her head to reassure Alice, although she couldn't hide the fact that she was disappointed that they didn't seem to be on this world after all, but she couldn't give up yet!

"Oh, I did find an glowing fragment of sorts, it almost looks like glass but feels warm to the touch." Alice picked something out from one of her front pockets of her dress. It looked like a glass shard that gave a gentle pulsing glow of light.

"Lucille, that must be a Lux fragment!" Florian clicked.

"So that's what a Lux Fragment looks like. Hey, um...I know this sounds really arrogant to ask but-" Lucille started but Alice stopped her.

"If you like, you can have it. Think of it as a token of thanks for saving me from those nasty creatures." Alice smiled and placed the fragment in Lucille's hands.

"Are you sure? You found it first so it rightfully belongs to you." Lucille was touched by the girl's generosity.

"That may be so, but in all honesty, I just picked it up because it looked most curious. It seems like that you need it more than me, so I'm perfectly fine with giving it away if it can aid you." Alice shook her head.

"Thank you, Alice. That's so sweet of you." Lucille thanked.

"I don't feel right about leaving her here, we should take her back to that place where that hedge maze is."

"Oh, you mean where the Queen of Hearts' palace is? I remember the Cheshire Cat speaking of that place, he said that was where the White Rabbit often goes." Alice clapped her hands together as she recalled something that the purple striped cat told her.

"The Cheshire Cat?" Florian tilted his head.

"He is a very odd mischievous cat that speaks in a most confusing way. I had only met him a few times." Alice informed them.

"Sounds like this cat is trouble, we should be cautious if we come across him." Lucille suggested.

"Is it alright if I can accompany you to the Queen of Hearts' Palace? I'm certain that I will be able to find that white rabbit there." Alice asked.

"Of course, we weren't going to leave you here. Stick close to us, okay?" Lucille nodded.

Alice smiled and nodded. "Thank you very much."

* * *

Lucille, Florian and their newest friend, Alice arrived outside the hedge maze that surrounded the castle that was the Queen of Hearts' Palace according to Alice.

"Well well, look at what the cat dragged in." A voice called out to them from above on top of the heart archway hedge. It was a cat with purple fur and dark purple stripes.

"Why it's the Cheshire cat!" Alice instantly recognized right away.

"Why is he here?" Florian wondered.

"Why am I here, indeed. I see that you have found the real Alice, delightful, alas, it won't stop the shadow who can take on many masks."

"The shadow that takes on many masks? What are you saying?" Lucille raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean by the real Alice? Of course I'm the real one! There is only one of me, after all." Alice placed her hands on her hips.

"Are you saying...that there's a Heartless here who can disguise as someone else?" Florian theorized.

"It looks like one of you has figured it out."

"What?! Tell us, where did it go?" Lucille jumped at this realization and turned to the cat for answers.

"Why ask when you already know the answer? The fake Alice is currently in the maze heading towards the Queen's palace, surely you can figure out what it plans to do, if not, too bad." The Cheshire Cat told them.

"There is someone pretending to be me? How absurd!" Alice cried out.

"Wait...if it's a Heartless pretending to be a person to get close to someone..." Lucille gave it careful thought as the answer struck her like a lightning bolt. "Oh no! That Heartless is probably going to try and steal the queen's heart!"

"A Heartless, are they those nasty creatures that tried to attack me?" Alice asked.

Lucille slowly nodded. "Yeah, this is the first time I've heard of the Heartless that can disguise itself as someone else though. That disturbs me on so many levels."

"Lucille, we need to get to the palace and stop that Heartless, if it succeeds in stealing the queen's heart, it might decide to take on her form and pretend to be the queen. What if it demands her guards to find the keyhole?"

"Can Heartless be that clever?" Lucille's eyes widened.

"I remember my teacher saying that there are many kinds of Heartless, it would not be out of the realm of possibilities that there is one who could be clever enough pull something like this." Florian told the brunette.

"Or it could be that it merely wants to frame Alice for the crime? When she is completely innocent of it all?" The Cheshire Cat added.

"We need to find Oswald, Zen and Chi right now and tell them about this." Lucille decided and turned to Alice. "Alice, you should stay here with the Cheshire Cat, it seems like this place doesn't seem to attract the Heartless, so you should be safe as long as you stay in this area."

"No, I shall go with you. This creature is pretending to me, if I do not do anything, they'll suspect that creature to be me and I'll be put on trial." Alice shook her head.

"But it could be even more dangerous inside the maze." Lucille warned.

"It'll be alright. I have you to depend on, right?" Alice reassured.

"Alice, okay then. Just stay near us okay?" Lucille had a feeling that she wouldn't be able to talk Alice down from this choice so she decided to let her do as she wished.

"Yes, I will do so." Alice nodded in agreement.

"If you wish to expose the fake, you must reveal its true face for all to see. How you do that exactly? I'll let you figure that out." The Cheshire Cat said as he disappeared into thin air.

"Hey, don't be cryptic!" Lucille cried in frustration. "I now know what you mean, he really does speaks in a confusing way." Lucille sighed.

"Lucille, we need to go and find the others. We can't allow this Heartless to carry out its plan."

"Right, let's go." Lucille nodded in agreement as the three of them charged into the maze, trying to find their way around to the palace before it was too late.

* * *

"Still no luck, huh Chi?" Oswald turned to the Chirithy.

"Nope, not a single fragment, perhaps this world doesn't have any to begin with." Chi shook her head.

"If that's the case, what happened to that 'strong light' that Florian sensed?" Zen brought up something the small Seraph had mentioned back at the bizarre room they were first in.

"I wonder about too. If it is not Lux that he sensed, then...it must have indeed been one of the seven Princesses of Heart." Chi confirmed.

"To think that the little guy could pinpoint a Princess of Heart of all things, the heightened senses of a Seraphim are really something." Oswald was impressed by Florian's ability to have located such a precious light in a place like this.

"You're telling me, I've only met a few Seraphim during the Age of Fairytales, but Florian is definitely one of the most gifted I had seen." Chi agreed.

"Either way, we're just wasting time here, I'd say we go get Lucille and Florian and go to another world."

"Yeah, guess you're right. I wonder how those two got on with their own search." Oswald wondered, but then in the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of something in the bushes of the hedge maze. "Zen, I think we have company, get ready for anything." Oswald summoned his Keyblade and slowly crept towards the hedge.

Zen willed his claw arm to manifest through the bandages and he stood ready to attack the moment their foe stepped out. "Oswald, you stand back, I'll ambush the Heartless." Zen volunteered and gently pushed the rabbit back behind him as he approached the bush in his stead.

Just as he was about to reach out to the hedge, imagine his surprise when he saw a blade resembling the Lux Arma that Lucille carried cut through it, making a clean hole, but the person tripped over a small branch.

"Whoa! Hey watch out!" The voice cried out as the person collided with Zen and they both fell the grassy floor with Zen's back taking the full brunt of the collision.

"Lucille! Are you okay?" Florian poked his head through to check up on the brunette.

"Oh my, are you hurt?" Alice also poked her head through the check up on Lucille.

"I'm okay, I'm okay." Lucille groaned as she used her arms to lift herself up to see she had landed on top of Zen. "Holy-! Zen! I'm so sorry, are you hurt? How many fingers am I holding?" Lucille panicked and went through a barrage of questions while holding up four fingers to check if Zen's was still alert.

"You crazy island girl! What were you thinking?! I could have used my claw on you, idiot! You're just lucky you tripped on that branch and took me by surprise, and by the way, yes I can count four fingers on your hand, I'm not disoriented." Zen barked.

"I know...sorry. We were in a big rush so we didn't have time to run around the maze all day." Lucille apologised.

"Um, not being rude or anything, but who's this young lady here?" Oswald pointed to Alice.

"Oh, this is Alice, we met her in Lotus Forest." Florian answered.

"A delight to meet the friends of Lucille and Florian who had been most gracious to save me from those things you called the Heartless." Alice gave a curtsy to them.

"She was attacked by the Heartless?" Oswald repeated.

"Yeah, oh yeah, she gave us this as a way of thanks." Lucille took out the Lux Fragment from her pouch and showed it the boys.

"Nice! You sure it's okay for us to take it, little lady?" Oswald turned to Alice.

"Of course." Alice nodded.

"Thanks, we appreciate it. Where did you find it though? We've been looking all over for it."

"Hmm...Oh I remember now, I found it outside the Mad Hatter's garden, it must have fallen from somewhere and I picked up since it looked so curious and beautiful to look at." Alice recalled where she had first found it.

"I see. Either way, we have another lux fragment to add to our collection. Now what about this emergency?"

"Oh that's right! You see, the Cheshire Cat told us about a 'fake' me that is going to try and steal the heart of the queen!" Alice explained in a hurry.

"Cheshire what?" Zen repeated, looking lost.

"Steal the Queen's heart? Wait, so this fake is actually a Heartless?" Oswald clicked.

"Yeah, it's apparently one of the more cunning ones." Lucille added.

"That's worrying indeed, we must hurry to the palace then and stop this Heartless." Chi emboldened them.

"That's great and all, but how do we get to the palace?" Zen questioned.

"By doing this, of course~" Lucille grinned and raised the Lux Arma once again to cut through the bushes.

"You know, this is called vandalism." Zen rolled his eyes.

"I'm not exactly proud of this but we can't just go through the maze the normal way, that would take too long, and we're already running against time as it is." Lucille argued back.

"She's got a point, Zen. If this fake really does mean to steal the queen's heart, who knows what could happen to this world. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can prevent this from happening." Oswald reasoned.

"I guess when you put it that way, we really are against the clock. Man, what a pain." Zen pulled Lucille back by pulling on the hood of her jacket.

"Wha-! Hey!" Lucille scowled.

"Leave this to me." Zen told her, he approached the hedge wall and charged what looked like a powered dark ball of energy and fired it to the wall, like a bullet, it created a large hole that created almost like a tunnel straight the palace's gardens itself. "There we go, a shortcut." He bluntly stated as his claw transformed into back his normal bandaged arm.

"Um...Wow, that was way faster than my method." Lucille blinked in shock, that arm of Zen's was truly a force to be reckon with. "Well, whatever, now we can get to the palace, thanks Zen!" Lucille thanked as she charged ahead with Florian and Alice.

"Stop running off on your own! Do you want to get it killed?" Zen shouted out as he followed behind them.

Oswald had a thoughtful look. "That girl...could she really be one of the seven?" He then shook his head. "Nah, I must be overthinking it, we've got more things to worry about." Oswald summoned his Keyblade as they both ran through the tunnel that Zen had made with his claw.

* * *

Arriving at the palace gardens where it looked croquet was usually played on this large clearing, there stood the queen along with someone who certain looked like another Alice.

"And who is this? How dare you barge into my gardens uninvited!" The Queen of Hearts accused the darkened version of Alice, the Heartless said nothing, but gave a cold smirk just before it raised a clawed arm about to plunge it right into the Queen's heart, it felt a piece of paper stuck to it's arm.

"Fire!" Florian casted, igniting the hand on fire and causing the Heartless to take a few steps back.

"What?! What is going on here?! I demand an answer!" The queen bellowed.

"Geez, what an ungrateful woman, the kid just saved her life." Oswald snarled.

"It really does look like me! But does it look a little more dark to you or is it just my imagination?" Alice pointed out.

"Even so, it's a very close match, it would be difficult to tell who was the fake and which one was real." Oswald shook his head.

"What, there are two versions of the same girl?" The queen gasped.

"Your Majesty, that fiend over there was trying to steal your heart, by disguising itself as a person to drop your guard." Lucille explained.

"Hmph, the sheer arrogance! How do I know you are telling me the truth? I must have evidence!" The queen ordered.

"Are you mad? The proof is standing there right in front of you!" Zen pointed accusingly to the Heartless still disguised as Alice.

"And how do I know that you lot aren't all this together, an attempt to steal my crown as well of my heart!"

"That is complete nonsense!" Alice defended.

"Surely you have something that may prove your innocence, if you are truly innocent of all this." The queen countered.

"Oh you've **got** to be kidding me." Zen snapped.

Lucille began to think of a way to reveal the fake, she then remembered the words of the Cheshire Cat ring in her mind.

"If you wish to expose the fake, you must reveal its true face for all to see."

"Expose the fake, expose his real face, but how do we do that?" Lucille whispered to herself. 'Wait...Heartless are afraid of light and Keyblades, so...that's it!" Lucille formed an idea as she took out the Lux Fragment that she still had on her.

She then went into reach near where the 'fake Alice' was standing, it was as if she was trying to coax the fake into attacking.

"What is that idiot doing?" Zen was about to go help but Oswald stopped him.

"Hold on, I think Lucille's got a plan. Don't do anything yet."

Lucille kept a firm hold of the Lux fragment in her hand. _'If these Lux fragments really do hold a great amount of light within them, then it should be able to dispel the illusion it has, showing its true form.'_ She had one arm behind her back where she summoned the Lux Arma into her hand (thanks to that little trick that she wished Florian told her way sooner) in order to protect herself in case the Heartless lunged for her.

The Heartless while still in the disguise of Alice took one step forward, that was Lucille launched her plan into action, bringing the Lux Fragment in front of the Heartless. "Time to show your real face behind that mask, you coward!" When in close proximity of the Heartless, the Lux Fragment glowed a blinding white.

The Heartless screeched as the light burned through its elaborate illusion, there stood in place once the fragment's light faded, was a Joker Heartless with a blue and red mask, with a giant card behind him.

"What-? What is this thing?! Guards! Guards! Arrest this fiend at once! I don't care how you do it!" The queen yelled for her guards before running away from the gardens.

"That was a very dangerous move, you know." Oswald scolded.

Lucille turned around and grinned. "Hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained as they say, right?"

Oswald sighed and gave a hopeless smile. "Heh, can't argue with that logic."

Zen summoned back his claw arm, ready to extract the darkness from this odd Heartless. "First time running into one of these and this arm is ready for its next meal."

"Okay, that sounds gross. You're saying that arm of yours eats Heartless _whole_?" Lucille gave a disgusted look.

"It feeds on the Darkness itself that Heartless are made of." Zen explained in minor detail.

"So not a devourer of hearts after all, huh?" Lucille had a triumphant look.

"...I do have some sense of morality you know, island girl. Anyway, never mind about that. Let's concentrate on getting rid of this thing once and for all." Zen retorted.

"Right, ready Flo?" Lucille nodded and turned to face Florian.

"Yes." Florian prepared his paper once again ready for seraphic spells.

"You leave protecting Alice to me, you guys concentrate on taking that guy out." Oswald told them.

Chi hurried over to Lucille's side.

"Ready to be of assistance Lady Lucille."

"Alright, time to take this joker down!" Lucille brought the Lux Arma from hiding and readied herself for battle.

The Joker's first move tricked them by showing he didn't have just one giant card, he had four of them and he threw each one at them like a boomerang at them.

Lucille and Zen dodged out of the way, while Florian managed to teleport around the field and manage to keep his concentration on his spells.

Florian threw a barrage of paper at the Heartless and fired off another Seraphic spell. "Crystal Storm!" The paper changed into crystal icicles and rained down like rain on the Joker Heartless, but the Joker Heartless was able to miss all of them.

Zen tried to charge at the Heartless with his arm, but the Joker melted into the ground, dodging the arm. "Damn it, it shifted to the ground. Keep your eyes open!"

Lucille's eyes darted around to find the Heartless that was slinking around on the ground and moving in a zig-zag pattern around the garden.

"Lucille, behind you!" Florian called out to which Lucille heard and turned around to see the Joker Heartless had risen back up from the ground behind her. She barely had enough time to use her Lux Arma to block the attack, the strength from that attack was enough to push her off her feet and on to the ground roughly.

"I'm alright!" Lucille shouted to reassure the two that she wasn't injured, she took this moment to dash at the enemy and swipe at the Heartless at a blind spot.

The Heartless hissed and recoiled then slipped back into the ground. "Argh! We need to pin that guy down somehow!" Lucille waved her hands in frustration.

But to only add more problems, the Heartless brought out his four cards and sink into the ground as if vanishing from sight, giving out a creepy laugh that didn't sound human at all, then the cards went in different directions as if playing a guessing game.

"Did it just merge with one of its cards? Hey, this is our chance to kill it in one go. I can feed off its darkness to weaken it enough to stop it from shifting around like it has, but I need to know which card it went into." Zen told Lucille and Florian.

"But they're all identical! How are we suppose to tell?" Chi jumped up in panic.

Florian looked carefully at the cards, he then tried to use his heightened senses as a Seraph to track down the Heartless. That was when he saw it, a black aura surrounding the northwest card. He threw another a volley of the sacred paper towards the card, once it stuck on, Florian didn't waste time to cast his spell.

"Binding chains!" Bright chains morphed from the paper and wrapped itself around the card, the Joker Heartless tried to jump out of the card in order to flee, but the chains kept it bound tight.

"I've got it!" Florian struggled to keep his hold over the spell as the Heartless was doing everything it can to break out of the chains of light that burned into its body.

"Good job, Flo!"

Zen didn't waste any time and raised his clawed arm and tightly gripped it over the Heartless's head. The claw began to absorb the darkness from the Heartless, like how a vampire would suck blood from their victim. The flailing and screeching of the Joker Heartless began to slow down until it had felt completely drained.

"Lucille, your Lux Arma should be able to release hearts too like the Keyblade, try using it now to free it." Zen told her, as he removed his arm and stepped back.

"A-alright, I've never done this before, so here goes." Lucille sighed deeply and looked at the Heartless that now looked completely defenceless and unable to fight back. She felt sorry for the creature, even though she knew that it would not show mercy in return. "I'm sorry." Lucille said before delivering the final blow right through the Heartless's chest.

Like Zen had figured, a heart was released from the Joker Heartless and it floated off into the sky above before vanishing in thin air. The Heartless, now without the heart it stole to maintain it, faded into nothingness.

It left nothing but a single gummi piece behind.

Oswald and Alice finally came over to the rest of the group now that the threat had passed.

"Are you all alright? I hope that dreadful joker didn't hurt you." Alice asked.

"Yes, we're fine. Thank you Alice. Still, those were some close calls." Lucille answered while using an arm to wipe her forehead.

"You need to be more careful of your surroundings, idiot. I can't keep saving you every five seconds." Zen scolded.

"Hey!" Lucille puffed her cheeks before she deflated them. "As much as it hurts my pride, you did look out for me. Thanks, you two as well Flo, Chi."

"Be fair at least, Zen. I think the pair did pretty well together, they're still new to this pact thing and we still don't know exactly what it entails. I'm sure they'll get better once we have a better idea." Oswald reasoned.

"Well for one, Florian is always tied to her leg so it's hard to keep those two apart for even a few minutes." Zen teased.

"I'm not tied to her leg, our hearts are joined on a spiritual level that benefits both parties, that's completely different." Florian added innocently.

"He was being sarcastic, little guy." Oswald grinned.

"...Sarcastic?" Florian repeated in confusion.

"That's basically being a smart-mouth punk about everything. Pretty much Zen in a nutshell really." Lucille pointed at Zen as she explained.

"Am not!" Zen argued back.

"You are too!"

Oswald sighed. "It's so nice to see them bonding."

"You call **_that_** bonding, Master Oswald?" Chi looked unamused.

"Yup. Trust me, if they can get into an argument this fast, that means they're making progress." Oswald nodded. The bickering between the two continued as Florian looked on with a confused look at it all.

"People have very strange ways of building bonds." Florian stated looking at Lucille and Zen's throwing back the same insults at each other.

"Eh, that's us mortals, kid. Every heart is unique and works around other people in different ways. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, it all depends on what your heart decides." Oswald explained.

"Hmm...Maybe that was what my teacher meant when he said that..."

"Huh?"

"No, it's nothing." Florian shook his head. He then picked up the small Gummi piece.

"Hey, that's an unusual Gummi piece, don't think I've seen one like this before. Mind if I keep this? I'll show it to the old geezer and Aster when we visit Traverse Town next time, I'm sure they can cook something up with this." Oswald asked.

Florian nodded and handed over the piece to the rabbit.

Zen and Lucille had finally dropped arguing when Oswald had turned in their direction to get their attention.

"I think it's safe to say that someone beat us to any lux fragments that was here, besides that one that the little lady, Alice had found. We won't find anymore here." Oswald informed the others.

"Then I guess we should go, before-"

Around that time, the Queen of Hearts returned with a large number of guards, they were all card people either with hearts or spades.

"Guards, arrest these criminals! For the attempted theft of my own heart!"

"What?! Are you crazy woman? We just saved you from the real culprit that wanted to steal your heart!" Zen snapped.

"You could have been conspirators working with that fiend, or perhaps the ones that hired it."

"That is absolutely absurd! I have never heard of such nonsense in my life!" Alice defended their innocence.

"Why would we work for a Heartless that we just took care of? That makes **no** darn sense!" Oswald countered.

"Enough! Because I say so that's why! What are you waiting for you fools? Arrest them now!"

"Uh oh, this is not good. We need to escape this world immediately, Lady Lucille!" Chi gripped hold of Lucille's leg and tugged on it to encourage her to move.

Zen took hold of Lucille's arm and pulled to get her attention. "Don't just stand there, we need to go!"

"But what about Alice? We can't leave her here!" Lucille pointed to Alice who seemed to have already made a decision of her own.

"Don't worry about me. I shall try to reason with the Queen and convince her that we are innocent of this misunderstanding." Alice told her.

"But-!"

Oswald gritted his teeth. "I hate to say it, but she's right. We can't force her to come with us, we can't get too involved, remember?"

"...I'm sorry, Alice." Lucille apologised, the blonde girl shook her head.

"It is alright, now please hurry!"

Wasting no time, they ran away, gaining some distance from the guards, once close enough, Oswald brought a device and pushed a button on it. It teleported all of them out of Wonderland and back on board of the Ortensia.

* * *

Oswald flew the Ortensia away from Wonderland and back into the sea of stars.

Zen had placed the Lux Fragment in the vault where they stored all their collection of Lux fragments and other relics that hailed as far back as the Age of Fairytales. While they left the Gummi piece they had found in the living quarters of the ship.

Once he returned to the cockpit, he noticed that Lucille had been quiet the entire time.

He knew he had no right to ask her about it, it just felt awkward to see her so quiet.

"Lady Lucille, are you alright? You've been staring at that window for a while now." Chi asked curiously.

"Hm? Ah...yeah, I'm okay. I feel awful for leaving Alice."

"Is that what's been eating you?" Zen questioned.

"Well...I know we're not allowed to meddle too much in the affairs of other worlds...I can't help but feel like we abandoned her though." Lucille admitted.

"I feel like Alice will be okay. She's a lot stronger than she looks." Oswald reassured.

"Yeah, Alice has a very strong light in her, she will be fine." Chi nodded in agreement.

"I hope so." Lucille sighed and looked out of the window that gave her view of so many stars that littered the interspace.

"Lucille...please don't be sad." Florian tried to comfort, sensing her distress from what she learned from that one memory tear. He had been standing next to her, instead of taking refuge inside her heart like he had done when they left Traverse Town.

Zen decided to try and change the topic. "Hey, rabbit. Any luck with that star chart?"

"It looks like our next stop is Olympus Coliseum according to the Star Chart. I've been there a few times to fight in some tournaments, I did pretty darn good if I say so myself." Oswald puffed his chest proudly as he bragged about his achievements.

"Hmmm, do you think there will be any Lux Fragments there?" Florian wondered.

"Who knows? If not, we might find a relic from the past that we can gleam information from." Oswald shrugged.

"Maybe Riku or Kairi might be there! Olympus Coliseum...that sounds so cool!" Lucille snapped out of her quiet thinking when she heard the name of the next world they were going to.

"Well she cheered up fast." Zen raised a questionable eyebrow.

"Well that's settled then, onwards to Olympus Coliseum!" Oswald directed the ship to the next destination.

* * *

 **Omake Skit 01: Magic Bandages**

"Hmmm..." Lucille seemed to be in deep thought about something, Florian had noticed this and decided to speak up.

"What is it Lucille? You look so serious about something."

"Huh? Oh, I was just wondering...it's about Zen's bandages." Lucille wondered.

"His bandages?" Chi also perked her curiosity at this.

"Well, you know when he uses that claw arm of his, usually you would think the bandages would get ripped up too, yet they don't, they remain in perfect condition despite that. So...are they magical bandages? Oh, maybe they're enchanted! Like how Dad's special charms! Or at least that's how he put it." Lucille excitedly theorized.

Florian and Chi both sweat dropped.

"I don't think they are the same thing as your father's...ah...charms." Chi shook her head.

Little did she know that Zen was not that far away and was hearing the entire conversation, raising his head slightly from a book he was reading.

"If you must know, they're special bandages that Merlin made for me." He answered suddenly which Lucille jumped up in surprise.

"Ack! Zen, you were there the whole time?!"

"...Whatever. Either way, it allows me to continue to use my arm while keeping my arm hidden from sight from normal folk. It would...scare a lot of people if they saw what was underneath it."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound-" Lucille started to apologise.

"Yes, I know, Island girl. I can gather that much about you that you meant well. Why did you want to know anyway?" Zen asked curiously.

Lucille twitched at the 'island girl' remark but shrugged it off. "Well...I was thinking that maybe if you ever need someone to change them if they get dirty, I could help. I did learn some first aid from my Mom but I haven't really been able to put that knowledge to use yet." Lucille admitted.

"..."

"...I mean, since they're magical and everything, I suppose you don't need any help so forget I mentioned it." Lucille then quickly added.

"Actually despite them being magical, I still need to replace them since the magic on them wears down eventually. Usually either Oswald helps with that or I change them myself when he's too busy, although it's a lot harder than it looks to do it by yourself. I wouldn't mind the offer, if you're still up for it." Zen told her, although he did straighten his scarf so it covered the lower half of his face.

"Oh? Really? Sure! I don't mind, let me know whenever you need the help, kay?" Lucille beamed and walked off, Chi took that moment to tease the greenette.

"So tell me, why did you feel the need to fix your scarf just then?"

"None of your business hairball." Zen shot down.

"Why did your cheeks turn a little red when Lucille offered her aid?" Florian asked innocently, pointing out something that both Chi and Lucille missed earlier.

"Don't read too much into it, it's just because of the temperature of the room. It's a little warmer than usual."

"But it's the average temperature we usually have." Chi countered.

"Chirithy, don't make me throw you out of this Gummi Ship and into interspace." Zen glared daggers when he warned the dream eater.

"Ahhh! Lord Florian, protect me!" Chi cried out and ran behind the Seraph.

"Lucille would be very mad if you did that, it's cruelty to animals." Florian scolded lightly.

"Yeah! Lady Lucille would be _very_ upset!" Chi added, emboldened by Florian's words.

"Whatever, I'm going back to reading." Zen rolled his eyes and began to read from the page that he left off.

"...He still never answered my question." Florian huffed.

 **Omake end**

* * *

Whew, finally managed to finish this chapter. Sorry about it being late, Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild happened. XD And some of FFXIV too. =P

Finding gaps between these worlds turned out to be a little more difficult than I thought, but I managed with Wonderland so far! =D

Anyways, just letting people know, this fan fic will continue to be updated, but chapters could take some time depending on how busy I am in real life. They will happen though. =3

Anyways, I hope that you've enjoyed this new chapter and please look forward to the future chapters ahead. As always, until then, happy reading folks, Moogle Empress out!

Moogle: Kupo!


	7. Episode 7: Warrior Of Light

Heya there folks! Here's chapter 7 to make up for my inactivity. XD

I would like to thank everyone who has either reviewed, favorited, followed or even just read this story so far. I'm really happy that people are taking time to read it, since I know OC stories are a mixed bag and mostly avoided.

Anyway, like I said in the previous chapter, I plan to stick with this one to the very end. And even extend on it in future fan fics in future. =D

Anyways onwards to chapter 7!

* * *

 **Episode 7: The Warrior Of Light**

* * *

Lucille and the group had arrived at what looked like large open courtyard with a huge coliseum standing before them.

"Whoa...That's one big coliseum." Lucille whistled.

"Impressive huh? Man, hasn't changed much from the last time I was here, feels like years ago." Oswald walked a few steps forward and puffed his chest out in pride. "I'll have you know that I managed to reach 2nd place in the Zeus cup!"

"The Zeus cup?" Zen crossed his arms and repeated the name.

"It was a really big tournament event, a pretty tough too, I only missed out on first place because Hercules beat me to it."

"Who's Hercules?" Florian asked curiously.

"He's what many call a true hero. I talked with him a few times before when we weren't in matches, he's a pretty swell fella." Oswald explained with a smile.

"He sounds legendary! Can we meet him?" Lucille went starry-eyed at the thought of meeting an actual real hero.

"Ah...sure. If he's around that is, he's pretty busy most of the time so I'm not sure if we'll get a chance." Oswald shrugged.

"I have a question, when did you ever get the chance to take part in these tournaments if you were exploring worlds for Lux Fragments and ancient relics?" Zen asked with an inquisitive tone.

"Heh heh..." Oswald laughed nervously and scratched his head. "I _might_ snuck away from Master Yen Sid's tower during my training and I _might_ have taken part in these tournaments without my Master's Permission."

"You went to these tournaments while you were just an apprentice?" Lucille blinked.

"...Yes." Oswald admitted with a sigh.

"Wow, Oswald. I never knew you were such a rebel back in your apprenticeship days. And here I always took you as this mature and always serious rabbit." Zen smirked and teased his partner.

"Hey quit it! I was young and wild okay?!" Oswald huffed.

"Says the one who ran away from home after a spat with his younger brother." Zen mercilessly continued to verbally poke.

Oswald glared and his nose twitched in annoyance.

Zen simply raised his hands in defeat. "Fine, fine. So sensitive."

"You shouldn't tease Oswald like that. Every one acts like that once in their life. Trust me, as someone who has a twin brother who acts reckless every waking minute, I can vouch for this." Lucille scolded.

"Says the island girl who went up to a Heartless in a reckless gamble back in Wonderland." Zen sarcastically retorted.

"Don't push it, pal. I dare you to call me that again." Lucille narrowed and poked his chest hard.

Meanwhile in a hidden secluded part of the courtyard, a conversation taking place between a blue tall man in a black long toga and had blue fire as hair talking with what looked like a young man in strange yet colourful knight like armour.

His horned helmet didn't do much to hide the mid-long snow hair that he had. He looked not a bit interested in anything what the other was saying. They couldn't hear the conversation that was taking place.

"C'mon, knight boy. I just need you to do one little thing for me in the tournament and I'll help you out with your memory loss, I mean c'mon, that's a bargain! Most clients usually have don't get that lucky with a deal from me."

"You have nothing to offer. I'd rather rediscover my lost memory on my own grounds than agree to any shadowy deal with you. We are done here." The man scoffed and turned and walked sharply away and into the coliseum foyer.

"Yeesh, talk about being stiff as a rock, now what am I going to do about Jerkuales." Hades grumbled in annoyance at not being able to get someone to do his dirty work for him. He turned his head slightly to notice that the sister of the Keyblade brat that had been here just a few short hours ago with the King's lackeys.

Hades had a cold smirk plastered on his face as an idea formed in his head and slipped away into the shadows.

"Oh yeah, I need to warn you guys. If you come across a guy named Hades, don't listen or agree to anything he offers, he's a rotten egg." Oswald warned the youngsters.

"Hades?" Zen questioned.

"He's the god of the Underworld in this world. He has it out for Hercules so he's been trying every dirty trick in the book to get rid of him." Oswald nodded and added.

"I see, thanks for telling us. We'll keep an eye out for him." Lucille thanked.

"Alright, let's go inside, I'm sure Phil is around somewhere." Oswald guided them to the main coliseum building, opening the large doors to enter inside.

* * *

Inside the foyer, that was actually a lot smaller than they thought it would be, they say a small goat like man, along with a man in knight armour.

"Look, only qualified heroes only! Even if you are a hero, I need a name before I sign you up for anything, how else are the crowd gonna know who they should be cheering for?" Phil argued.

"...Warrior of Light...that's all I can remember, that word resonates strongly in my memory, I thought that perhaps in the heat of battle, it would trigger something else."

"Warrior of Light? Eh, that sounds heroic enough, I'll just put you down as 'Warrior of Light' on the roster." Phil shook his head and carved a new name on the stone tablet that was a list of tournament contestants he had in his hands.

"Still in the business of training heroes, Phil?" Oswald called out.

"Huh? Hey, well ain't it the lucky rabbit himself. Been a while since the Zeus Cup, what brings ya back." Phil recognized Oswald right away, but not the others who was with him.

"Who are the kids?"

" **Kid**?" Zen's bandaged arm twitched at being called a 'kid'.

"Well technically we're teenagers, so we're neither kids or adults. Although I guess Flo would still count as a kid." Lucille pointed out in a matter of fact like fashion.

"Lucille, you aren't helping." Zen face palmed.

"Don't knock them, Phil, they're young, but capable. Anyway, we were just stopping by to investigate something. I see you have another tournament going then?"

"Yeah, I just reopened the games after it got trashed a while back, Herc helped with the repairs so we managed to get this place back to working order in no time." Phil puffed out in pride of the champ he helped trained.

"Oh, do you think we'll be able to take part in it?" Lucille asked.

"Lucille, we're here to look for fragments remember? We haven't got time for fighting in matches, I'd be lying if I said wasn't interested but still..." Zen reminded.

"Well yeah, but maybe we'll find it while taking part. What if it's being held as a prize?" Lucille suggested. "Besides, Flo and I are here to find my other friends too." Lucille countered.

"Oswald, talk to her." Zen glared at the rabbit.

"Huh, now that she mentions it, she's got a good point. Phil, is there any particular prize in this tournament?" Oswald's ears perked up in curiosity.

"I'm glad you asked! There's this strange orb of light thing that I found while cleaning the arena of the last mess of a tournament we had. I figured that since no one stepped up to claim it, I figured it would make a nice reward to the winner." Phil replied.

"An Orb of Light? That sounds familiar..." The Warrior of Light whispered to himself.

"Could it be an ancient relic from the Age of Fairytales?" Chi guessed.

"If it is, then it's right up our alley. It's no Lux Fragment, but won't say no to a relic of the old world." Oswald decided. "Alright Phil, think you can sign me up?"

"Bad news, these are team matches, you're gonna need two other partners to compete."

"Sir, that Orb of Light you mentioned, is it being displayed at this moment? This is something I need to see with my own eyes. I believe that Orb is important to me somehow."

"Nice try, buddy, but no one's taking a gander at that prize till the winner is announced. Besides, like I said, two words, Team Matches only."

"...Um..." Florian counted with his fingers at Phil's previous sentence to count the words. "Should we tell him that he actually said-" Flo started before Oswald stopped him.

"Trust me on this kiddo, just roll with it. You'll save yourself a lot of headache this way."

"I understand. I apologise." The warrior apologised.

"Well, let me know who I need to sign up when you're ready rabbit." Phil told them before going past the barrier that was held in place that lead into the arena.

Lucille's curiosity over the exchange between them made her come forward to approach the young knight.

"Excuse me? You said that Orb might be important to you? Why's that?"

"Lucille, that might be a little much to-" Oswald tried to tell her but the knight spoke anyway.

"When I awoke in this world, I had no memory of who I was or which world I had come from originally. I feel like I had lost something important here, so I cannot leave until I get it back. I only remember a few things, a title, a blue orb of pure light and...the feeling that there is somewhere else I am meant to be."

"...You don't think that orb Phil found and the one this guy talks are the same object, do you?" Zen turned to the rabbit.

"It can't be just dumb luck, fate's got a funny way of working like that." Oswald pondered thoughtfully.

"Say...Oswald?" Lucille turned to ask the rabbit, but Oswald just gave an all-knowing smile.

"I know, I know. You want to help him get this orb back, especially if they are one and the same right?" Oswald answered.

"Whoa, how did you know what I was going to ask?!" Lucille looked impressed.

"Because you're literally a bleeding heart?" Zen sighed.

Lucille glared at Zen.

"Lady Lucille does have a point though, even if we did take part and win, what if this orb already does have an owner? We would be no better than thieves if it does belong to this man here." Chi noted.

"You make a fair argument, Chirithy." Oswald agreed and turned to the knight.

"Okay, how about this? We team up for this tournament and win to claim the prize. If it is the same orb you are talking about, you should be able to recognize it right away. If it does belong to you, then by all means you can have it. If it isn't yours though, we'll take it, deal?" Oswald offered.

"...Are you implying that we should join forces as a team for the tournament?"

"Exactly, we only need three people, so if you and I team up, that just leaves us with just one person left to volunteer, I'm sure we can fill that spot pretty easily though." Oswald glanced at the others to illustrate his point.

"I appreciate it, but are you sure you do not want the orb for yourself? It would be unfair to you and your friends otherwise, my memory is fragmented with very few clues to rely on, the one that's being presented as the prize at this tournament might not be the same orb and I'm mistaking it with another."

"Not gonna lie, I do want that orb, but if it does belong to you after all, then it's just going back to where it rightfully belongs. So regardless, it's win-win for either of us." Oswald honestly replied.

"...I will never forget this kindness, thank you."

"Don't thank me, thank her, she's the one vouching for ya." Oswald shrugged and pointed at Lucille.

"You are called Lucille, correct?"

"Yeah, that's me." Lucille nodded.

"Thank you. I found it difficult to trust anyone here with my memory being the way it is and with that detestable god of the Underworld prowling behind me. For some reason though, I can tell you and your friends can be trusted, not sure why I feel that way though."

"Hades? You ran into that creep?" Oswald's ears perked up.

"Indeed, he offered to help recover my lost memories, in return for my help to slay someone for him. I told him the truth, I do not deal with people or any god with darkness overflowing in their hearts like he does."

"Boy, good thing you chose to turn him down. I bet he was lying through his teeth the whole time."

"I had felt that suspicion as well, taking advantage of my amnesia for his own goals, whatever those goals may be." The Warrior of Light nodded.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Light!"

"Light?"

"Well, calling you Warrior of Light all the time would be a bit of a mouthful." Lucille laughed nervously.

"Hmm...I do not mind it, you may call me that, if it is easier for you to recall." The knight gave it some thought and consented.

"So that's me and our new pal, Light here sorted. We just need to find one more." Oswald turned to Zen and Lucille.

"Count me out. I don't think the crowd would support or cheer for someone with a monstrous claw like this." Zen shot down.

"Ooh! Can I join? Being in a tournament sounds fun~ Besides, maybe Riku's here, he's always been preaching about getting stronger for when we left our Islands and this place seems like the kind of thing he'd take part in." Lucille raised her hand excitedly.

"I hope for your friend's sake, he hasn't ran into Hades if he is on this world." Oswald noted. "Oh yeah, if you're joining, you'll have to put Florian on the side-lines."

"Aw, why can't I join?" Florian was disappointed to hear this.

"You might be a Seraph, kiddo, but this is still team match with only three people allowed in a team, you would kinda be breaking the rules."

"Oh...Will you be okay, Lucille?" Florian asked.

"Yeah, don't you worry. I'm no Riku when it comes to swordplay, but I can hold my own." Lucille winked.

"I'll be rooting for you." Florian nodded and smiled.

"Heh heh, thanks Flo~" Lucille giggled. She then turned to Zen. "You'll watch over Florian for me, right?"

Zen shrugged. "Sure, got nothing else better to do."

"I'll go sign us up then. It pays to be a runner up in the Zeus Cup." Oswald told them and he went off to find Phil.

"Hey Lucille, you said that your sword skills aren't as good as this friend of yours. So you guys basically self-taught yourselves?" Zen asked.

"Pretty much. I was pretty late to learning since I wasn't able to leave the house for ages, and there's no way Mom would ever let me near anything sharp back then, but Riku and Sora helped to teach me. To be fair though, I don't think I'll ever be as good as Riku, as much as a jerk he is, he's a really good swordsman."

"I can't tell if you like this guy or hate him." Zen rolled his eyes.

"I don't hate him." Lucille retorted with a huff. "He's...just hard to read and understand at times. Either way, even if he's not here, I still hope he's okay wherever he is now. He's still one of my best friends after all, no matter how much he changed over the years."

Lucille caught almost a glimpse of emotion from Zen other than his usual scowl, it was like he remembered something painful. "Hey, you okay?"

"It's nothing, besides, why do you care?" Zen brushed off her concerns.

"Well you don't have to be defensive about it. Am I not allowed to care?" Lucille placed her hands on her hips in defiance.

"It might not be my place to say this, but I believe it is better if you do not pry your friend any further." Light advised.

"I guess, but would it hurt for him to not push people away?" Lucille shrugged in defeat.

"I am sure he will warm up in time, Lady Lucille." Chi reassured.

Zen just stayed quiet and ignored them, but he did squeeze his bandaged arm with his normal one.

"Okay, good news, we're in. Phil added us to the tournament roster." Oswald returned with a victorious grin.

"Nice! So...how does this work exactly?" Lucille asked curiously.

"We have two brackets that will compete with each other, the finalists of those two brackets will end up fighting each other in the final match. Right now, we're in the right wing, so the left wing will be everyone who will be challenging us."

"Are we the only ones in this wing?" Light questioned.

"Yeah, seems like it. That does strike me as suspicious, even Phil thought it was weird about the lack of combatants in the right wing, according to him, the left wing has a ton of challengers."

"That seems incredibly one-sided." Zen noted.

"You know what the most strangest part is? Everyone that signed up to the right wing besides us ended up either defecting to the left or they were too injured to take part."

"It sounds like someone is trying to rig the outcome." Light frowned.

"Wait, doesn't that count as cheating? Shouldn't that mean they get disqualified or something? I'm no expert on tournaments but..." Lucille reasoned.

"It's no good if you don't have proof to back it up, Lucille. Either way, try to be careful, okay? There's someone playing dirty here, and I don't think they'll be playing by the rules." Zen warned.

"We'll be careful, right guys?"

"Yeah, I think I know who the culprit is. We need to get to that final round to confirm it." Oswald nodded.

"Then we must remain vigilant."

"Yeah, let's do our best!" Lucille nodded. _'I sure hope Riku isn't injured or in the left wing.'_ She made a mental prayer.

"Alright boys and girls, the show's about to start. You're the only ones in the right wing bracket so you better not lose." Phil approached them to inform them that the tournament would soon commence.

"Geez, who do you think you're talking to Phil? I'm the runner up of the Zeus Cup, this will be nothing." Oswald bragged with a smirk.

"Don't worry Phil, we're gonna win! I think...no I know we're gonna win!" Lucille tried to boost her confidence, hoping that she wouldn't be a burden despite this bring her first tournament.

"We'll be rooting for you from the side-lines, right Zen?" Florian beamed and nodded.

"I don't do cheering." Zen scoffed. "Nevertheless, I'm expecting you guys to win, so don't disappoint me and don't pull any reckless moves like you did back in Wonderland, island girl."

Lucille grinned. "Is that your way of saying good luck?"

"You heard what I said." Zen crossed his arms.

"Aw thanks Zen~!" Lucille smiled brightly.

"..." Zen sighed.

"Alright then, let's get you kids into the lobby. You two can hit the seats from that direction." Phil directed them.

* * *

And so, the tournament was underway, the crowds filled the seats of the coliseum with Zen, Florian and Chi in the middle row. Lucille, Oswald and Light were indeed the only challengers from the right wing, and through teamwork and coordination, they have managed to reach the final round.

"Have you noticed that all the challengers of the left wing so far had been Heartless? How come no one is freaking out about them?" Zen wondered.

"It could be that creatures of such unusual appearance is the norm here. They must assume that they are creatures of this world as well. So long as their minds do not perceive as a threat to them, they won't react like we would."

"Tch, they're just asking for their hearts to be stolen."

"I hope Lucille, Mr. Oswald and Mr. Light are doing okay? They've been fighting these matches non-stop." Florian grew concerned.

"It'll be okay, Lord Florian. Lady Lucille is a strong-willed girl." Chi comforted.

"But what about her body? Didn't she say that she had a weak body back when she was younger? She claims she's stronger now but..."

"...Do I detect concern?" Chi's ears perked. Her only reward was a death glare from the greenette, although he didn't make a rebuttal.

'Maybe I should have swallowed my pride and taken that spot earlier. This might be too much for her body to take, we haven't really had a proper rest since leaving Traverse Town.'

"Oh, I see them now!" Florian stood up from his seat and waved excitedly to them as the crowd began to cheer loudly once more as the final round was about to begin. "Do your best, Lucille! Mr. Oswald! Mr. Light! Just one more win!"

"You can do it!" Chi jumped as she also joined in the cheering.

Zen just looked deadpanned at the pair of them. "They're having _way_ too much fun with this." He continued to have a serious look on his face as he stared down at the arena.

* * *

The trio had been able to tackle the past nine rounds by working together, using their strengths and defending their weaknesses where needed. Lucille began to pant a little but shook off her slight fatigue, she couldn't slow down now, she could always recuperate when it was all over.

"Hey, Lucille. Are ya doing okay?" It hadn't escaped Oswald's notice that Lucille was starting to get tired out.

"Y-yeah. Just a little tired out, but I'll be okay. Just one more win to go, right?" Lucille reassured.

"Yo, Phil. Is it possible to tag out in these tournaments?

"Afraid not, you can't switch out now, ya gotta keep goin' till the end. Besides it's the final match! You can't throw the towel now!" Phil shook his head.

"I was afraid of that. Are ya sure you can keep going? Don't push your body too hard." Oswald asked.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Lucille nodded.

"That's the spirit, kid! You aren't half-shabby, now that I think about it. You look like that other rookie kid who came here with some strange looking key as a weapon."

"You've met my brother?" Lucille's eyes widened in recognition.

"Come again? That rookie **was** your brother?! Huh, should have figured since you both nearly have the exact same face."

Lucille's eye twitched. "Why does _everyone_ say that?"

"Anyway, once you're through this round, the final round is up, whoever is ain't gonna be no pushover, so no slacking!" Phil warned them. "If ya excuse me, Herc should be here soon with the grand prize. The Satyr took off back to the lobby to wait for Hercules to arrive.

"Don't you find something odd? All of these enemies we've been fighting are Heartless. Usually they would just run wild and attack anything they see, but these ones are being controlled by a stronger presence of darkness." Oswald whispered to Lucille.

"Yeah, that is kinda weird. You mentioned someone called Hades earlier, right? Do you think he has a hand in this?" Lucille turned to their knight friend.

"He did try to enlist my aid earlier, perhaps he is the mastermind behind why we are the only ones in the right wing for this tournament." Light nodded.

"Maybe he's trying to tire us out early by making us taking all these rounds on by ourselves." Oswald theorized.

"Hey, someone's coming." Lucille pointed to the other side of the arena.

Their challenger was a tall man in dark armour with a horned helmet that completely covered his face.

"That man...I've...seen him somewhere before." Light's eyes narrowed deep in thought.

"You have?" Lucille gasped in surprise.

"A friend or foe?" Oswald quickly asked, never dropping his guard with his keyblade armed in hand.

"My, how the mighty have fallen. Here I stand before you and you do not even recognize me, some warrior of light you turned out to be." The man laughed darkly.

"Definitely a foe." Oswald confirmed.

"Who are you? And what do you know about Light?" Lucille called out.

"Very well, I shall humour you, little girl. Since you won't live long enough to remember it. I am Garland, I am the servant of Chaos, the devourer of worlds."

"Garland...? Chaos...?" Light repeated, his head began to pulse in pain.

"You really don't remember, Warrior of Light? You and your sorry lot for companions failed to stop myself or Chaos from devouring the heart of our world of Cornelia, it would seem however the light within you saved you from becoming consumed, or would that be Princess Sara's light that saved you?"

"Wait, is Chaos a Heartless as well then?" Oswald demanded.

"Hmhmhm...My master is just one of the many faces that the forces of darkness has. Those pathetic dregs you call Heartless are mere ants compared to the power that Chaos has at his disposal."

"You destroyed your own home world? Why would you do that?"

"That is none of your concern, little girl. My only reason for being here in this world, is to finish off the last of the Warriors of Light! Once I have ended this one's life, there will be none to stand oppose to my Master and the last hope of Cornelia will die!"

"Not if we have anything to say about it!" Oswald fought back.

"That God of the Underworld warned that you two would be taking part and get in my way."

"I knew it! Hades was behind all of this!" Oswald clicked.

"It would have been ironic if he somehow managed to turn you to Darkness, Warrior of Light. No matter, I knew from the very start that you would never change."

"I..."

"Stop the match!" An unfamiliar voice barged in, getting in-between the fighters, eliciting gasps from the crowd.

"Hey slow...down, Herc! What's...with all...the commotion?" Phil followed behind although panting heavily as a result.

"Phil, we need to stop this tournament, it's a scam."

"A scam?!"

"Herc! Always know how to the make an entrance, huh?" Oswald smirked.

"Oswald! I didn't know you dropped by, I guess you also came to the same answer as me, right?" Hercules was pleased to see the familar rabbit that he spared with during the Zeus Cup long ago.

"Yeah, Hades is involved."

"Hades rigged the whole thing. He was the one who caused all those accidents to happen to the other challengers from the right wing, leaving just you guys in. He obviously wanted you to end up fighting this guy, so he could get to me."

"Get to you?" Lucille looked confused.

"I was planning on keeping that as a surprise, but the winner would also get a chance to fight with Herc, that's why I left him with the Orb that I found."

"Oh yeah, that's right. I beleive this belongs to you." Hercules took out a blue crystal orb of blinding light and handed it over to Light.

"Eh?! But that-!"

"Phil, that orb you found belonged to this guy to begin with. It was really strange, on my way here, the orb talked to me, there was a woman's voice coming out of it, she said that she had to return to her knight's side, to protect him." Hercules explained.

Light looked deeply into the orb, as if searching for answers within its depths. He had a brief moment of pain that pulsed through his mind. Then like a flood of light, wave upon wave of memories flowed back into him.

"No matter what happens, may the light of the crystal ever illuminate your path, my dear Warrior of Light."

When it was all over, he felt as if a part of him that had been lost for ages, suddenly return and made him feel whole again. "That's it, I remember now..."

"Light! Do you have your memories back?!" Lucille beamed.

The knight simply nodded and stared in defiance at Garland. "You and Chaos had outside help, my comrades and I were unable to prevent Chaos from consuming the heart of our world, and Cornelia fell into darkness. However, Princess Sara, she...called out to me, and I reached out to her and then...I believe that's where I lost my memories."

"As I thought, the light within that meddlesome Princess was too strong even for my Master to consume, so that's where she ran off to, right into your orb of light. By doing so, she not only saved herself but you as well, she even saved your memories from being lost forever. Such a troublesome girl."

"If you think I will allow you to take the Princess's heart from the Orb of Light, think again." Light armed himself ready with sword and shield in hand. "I am a Knight of Cornelia, not only that, but one of the Four Warriors of Light. Chaos' defeat come later, right now, I will end your malicious intent here and now, you will cause no more suffering to any other world like you did to Cornelia!"

"We're with you, Light!" Lucille and Oswald agreed and got ready to fight against the dark knight before them.

"Ha! Yes! That's more like it! I missed that fire in your eyes, Warrior of Light. Very well, I, Garland, shall knock you all down!"

"Herc, get the people out of here, this is gonna get messy." Oswald warned Hercules.

Hercules nodded. "Leave it to me, you take care of that guy."

"Kid, I've got two words for ya. MAKE. HIM. PAY!" Phil stated loudly before running off behind Hercules.

Garland summoned a swarm of Heartless that crawled out from the ground. The crowd began to panic and abandon their seats to seek safety.

"Lucille, Oswald!" Zen didn't waste any time and started his descent down to aid them, Florian and Chi wasted no time in following. "Hang on Lucille!"

"Lady Lucille! We'll save yooouuu!"

Lucille and Oswald started by taking out Heartless that Garland summoned using Oswald's Keyblade and Lucille's Lux Arma. Within a matter of seconds, they were joined by Zen and Florian.

"Hey, was wondering when you'd join us." Oswald smirked and greeted the greenette off-handily.

"Give me a break." Zen scoffed before summoning his Heartless Claw and started to swipe at the multiple Heartless, taking hold and extracting the darkness from the smaller ones when they were close enough to grab.

"Wind Blade!" Florian threw one of his paper charms towards one of the larger heartless and transforming it into a blade made up of wind and slicing through the Heartless' body like paper.

"You okay Flo?" Lucille asked.

"That should be my question!" Florian puffed his cheeks.

Meanwhile Light and Garland was caught up in their own personal battle, clashing blades with each other in a well rehearsed dance that both knights knew so well.

Lucille was about to join to help but Oswald stopped her. "This is his fight, Lucille, let's take care of the Heartless."

Lucille was hesitant for a moment but in the end, Oswald was right. This was something only Light could finish, so she returned to fighting the remaining Heartless.

Light and Garland pressed their swords against each other, grinding them so they made the metal screech.

"Do you really think you can defeat me? You could not even end me when you had the other Warriors of Light with you." Garland scoffed.

"Yes, I know I can. Even if they're not physically here with me, they are even now lending their strength with me by through my heart, just like Princess Sara did when she saved my own from being consumed by darkness and still continues to fight alongside me. Do not mock the power of my friends!" Just then, Light's body began to shine brightly, glowing in a blinding light.

"W-what?!" Garland was taken by surprise, that was the moment Light was waiting for managed to deal the final blow to Garland, throwing him off balance and falling to the ground ungracefully.

Light pointed his sword towards Garland's face. "It would seem you are the one who has been knocked down, Garland."

"Do not mock me, boy. What are you waiting for? End me, isn't that what you wanted?" Garland spat.

"...Before Cornelia fell, yes, I would have without a second thought. Now, I know better. I will not become like you. You have a chance to redeem yourself, when you kidnapped Princess Sara, you did not sacrifice her right away, did you? You hesitated, enough for my comrades and I to arrive and stop you the first time before we realized the cruel cycle we've been trapped into. That means you hold some good in your heart still."

"Hahahaha! You're such a fool, letting your enemy go. You realize I shall return, more powerful than I am now?"

"Even so, I still believe that your heart will change yet again. Before you were corrupted, you were one of Cornelia's most celebrated knights, someone that the King trusted greatly. You were once a good man, the heart is more mysterious than you think."

"Heh, such a naïve fool. You will regret sparing me. I shall return and my Master, Chaos will devourer countless other worlds until you finally commit to the fact, there is no redemption for me." That was all Garland said before he teleported himself away in a cocoon of darkness and seeped into the ground like a Heartless would.

"Garland..."

"What in the name of Medusa?! That guy just walked out on me! We had a deal!" Hades puffed into the arena, his whole body turned red and his blue flame of hair turned red as he fumed.

"Of course you made a deal with that guy, you're always about shady deals Hades." Oswald scoffed. They had just finished off the last group of Heartless that Garland summoned earlier.

"So that's Hades?" Lucille pointed to the God of the Underworld.

"Hey, it's rude to point at gods, doll face!" Hades snapped.

"Hades, why did you do all this? This wasn't just about getting at Hercules was it?" Oswald demanded.

"Tch, well since you asked _so_ nicely." Hades sneered. "While taking care of Jerkaules was my main goal, I thought I could get rid of Keyblade brat's sister and you in the process. That's when I found that Dark Knight fella, said he was here to kill some Warrior of Light that survived the destruction of their world. It didn't take an apple to fall from a tree to tell it was you, light boy."

"So, you made a deal with Garland to offer my life for his help to kill Hercules. You truly are a coward, getting others to do your own duty work." Light narrowed his eyes.

"Hey I'm a god, that's what I have minions for." Hades brushed off the insult. "I should have known it was too good to be true when he said that you were taking part in this tournament, he said he'd do whatever dirty deed I wanted done for free. Note to self, never take on anyone that offers to do any work for nothing."

"Either way, you lost. So why don't you crawl back to your little underworld where you belong?" Oswald scoffed.

"You really are related to that Mouse aren't ya?" Hades snorted.

"What can I say? Runs in the family." Oswald crossed his arms with pride.

"Wait, can I ask you something?" Lucille took a few steps forward.

"Lucille, what _are_ you doing?"

"Did you happen to meet someone named Riku while in this world? I was certain that he'd be last challenger..." Lucille asked her question.

Hades turned around with a smirk. "I might have. Either way, even if I did tell you, there's no way you can reach him where he is. Well, time to hatch another scheme, see ya losers." He then disappeared once more.

"Hey! You lowlife! Get back here!" Lucille growled.

"Don't bother, Lucille. He wouldn't have told you anyway." Oswald shook his head.

"So...Riku wasn't here after all...I had so many things I wanted to ask him too." Lucille sighed.

"I'm sure Riku's okay, Lucille." Florian tried to cheer her up.

"Yeah. Riku can take care of himself, I know that. Still, doesn't mean I can't worry about that jerk." Lucille smiled softly.

"You do realize Oswald that you entered this tournament for nothing." Zen reminded the rabbit.

"...Ahhh! That's right! The orb turned out to belong to Light after all!" Oswald cried out before sighing in defeat.

"That's not entirely true. We were able to do a good deed by helping Light remember his old memories and those he cared about. I'd say that's a great achievement!" Lucille beamed brightly.

"Heh, of course she would think that." Oswald gave a lopsided smile. "Well, a deal's a deal. Glad you got your memories back, pal." Oswald turned to Light.

"I would not have been able to recover the memories that I lost if it hadn't been for you all. Thank you all so much." Light gave a slight smile and bowed graciously.

"Well, this was all Lucille's idea so thank her." Oswald pointed to the brunette.

"So, Princess Sara, who is she? And how did she get inside your orb?" Lucille asked curiously.

"Ah, yes. Princess Sara was a brave woman who cared deeply for the well-being of her own people, she was never one to remain in the castle and would often disguise herself as a commoner in order to walk among her own people. Ironically, everyone in Cornelia knew it was her, but they played along with her since she had tried so hard to blend in."

"Heh, she sounds wonderful. I wish I could meet her in person." Lucille laughed.

"She was indeed a wonderful Princess, the people of Cornelia loved her dearly. She would have become a queen to be proud of serving, had...Garland not gotten involved with Chaos."

"Even after our world was consumed, Princess Sara's heart must have survived and made refuge within my orb of light. It is after all a source of light itself, so it would make a safe haven for her heart.

"Huh...so her heart was too strong for the darkness to consume. That almost sounds like a Princess of Heart." Oswald noted quietly to himself.

"So she's still inside there? I'm really glad that she's okay."

"I now know what I must do now. I must reunite with my friends, I know that they too must have also survived, they have Orbs of Light as well, I'm certain it must have protected them from the darkness. Although it would seem the Princess wished to come along as well."

"Heh heh, you better make sure that you never lose it again. I don't think your Princess would be very happy if she found you lost that orb a second time." Lucille teased.

"Yes, I will make sure that I never lose sight of my light again." Light nodded, keeping a secure hold over the Orb of Light that held within it the heart of Princess Sara.

"In truth, we're on a journey ourselves, to find our friends that we got separated from and restore our own home world that had fallen into darkness as well. Who knows? Maybe we'll find a way to restore Cornelia too!"

"If one day Cornelia is restored, do visit us. I'm certain the Princess would love to meet the ones who helped her amnesiac knight in his darkest hour." Light told them.

"Yeah, that's a promise!" Lucille promised.

* * *

"Thus I hereby dub thee junior heroes and confer upon thee full rights and privileges to participate in the games. Further-"

"Junior heroes? What's that meant to mean? I thought we did pretty well all things considered." Lucille placed her hands on her hips.

"You rookies still don't understand what it takes to be a true hero. So until then, you guys will keep training till you do understand."

"Awww." Lucille was deflated.

"So, what does it take for one to be considered a true hero? Is one's deeds not enough?" Chi wondered.

"Hell if I know." Zen answered flatly.

"Well, that's just something you'll have to find out for yourselves, just the way I did."

"Really? You had to discover that for yourself too?" Lucille curiously.

"Yup, even heroes have to start somewhere." Hercules winked.

"He's got a point. No one becomes a hero overnight, there's much more to it than just doing good deeds." Oswald explained.

"Huh...That's some food for thought. I wonder what it really takes?" Lucille smiled thoughtfully. "Oh well, it's not so bad. Junior Heroes has a nice ring to it." Lucille then beamed.

"We can always come back from time to time to take part in the future games." Oswald offered.

"Yeah! I think this will be a great way for us to train our skills. I've been wanting to practice more with the Lux Arma after all." Lucille agreed with excitement.

"Oh that's right, I found this on my way to the Coliseum. I feel you would get better use out of it, than I will, Oswald." Hercules handed over what looked like a gummi piece to the rabbit.

"A gummi piece? What's that doing in a world like this?" Oswald looked confused.

"Is that what it's called? Well if you can get some use out of it, then it was worth holding on to." Hercules replied.

"Huh, guess that's another for Cid and Aster to work out." Zen noted.

"Hey, what happened to that Warrior of Light guy? I thought he was with you." Phil looked around for the Warrior of Light.

"He's gone off on his own journey to find his friends." Lucille answered while not revealing too much away.

"Aw man, I really thought he had good material to be a true hero too, well so much for that idea." Phil groaned.

"Well, I hope he finds them." Hercules understood better than Phil what she meant.

"Yeah, I really hope so too." Lucille nodded. _'And maybe one day, we'll get to see the world that he and his friends tried so hard to save. I'm looking forward to that day.'_

"Well, we better be off, we've got our own journey to still continue." Oswald changed the topic.

"You'll be back to take part in the future games, right?" Hercules asked.

"Absolutely! Maybe one day we'll get to face off against you, Hercules." Lucille answered.

"Heh, you have the same enthusiasm as your brother, Sora. You guys are related right?"

"Oh yeah! How did you guys meet Sora?" Lucille asked curiously.

"Let's just say, Hades was involved again. With help from him and his friends though, we were able to take down Cerberus. Although don't tell the little guy, but I actually tired out Cerberus before they jumped in to help."

"Heh heh, don't worry, I won't tell Sora." Lucille agreed to stay silent about that. It would probably bruise Sora's pride if he found out about that.

"Either way, they're junior heroes too, so you might end up sparring with each other if you both take part in the future games ahead." Phil warned.

"Huh, that sounds like something I could get behind, not everyday you fight against a Keyblade Wielder." Zen was interested in the thought.

"You've got one with ya, you know. You could just ask me." Oswald grumbled.

"Well, guess we better be going. Take care now! We'll come back soon for the games!" Lucille waved to them as they departed, with Hercules waving back to them.

* * *

As they departed from the airspace around Olympus Coliseum, Oswald made an updated change to the star chart. "Well so far, we've found one Lux Fragment and two gummi blocks with an unusual appearance."

"Do you have any ideas what those gummi blocks could be?" Zen asked.

"If I had to guess, they're probably navigation parts, but for what, your guess is as good as mine."

"Shhh, keep it down, Lucille's sleeping." Florian motioned for the other two to lower their voices.

"Wait, she is?" Zen and Oswald looked over to Lucille's seat to see that she was deep in her sleep.

"I think all our adventures so far as tired her out. We haven't had a proper rest since leaving Traverse Town after all." Chi told them.

"Hm, yeah. Not to mention, she did seem a bit fatigued after everything that happened at the Coliseum and in Wonderland. I think a rest would do all of us a world of good. I'll set the coordinates to head for Traverse Town for the time being. Zen, how about you take to her room? I don't think that chair is the most comfortable place to sleep on."

"What am I? Your personal servant? Fine, whatever." Zen scoffed but conceded, lifting the brunette into his arms in order to not wake her.

Florian was about to follow but Oswald stopped him. "Lucille will be fine, she doesn't need her Seraph to watch over her."

"I guess..." Florian looked disappointed, he didn't like the idea of being separated from Lucille for any period of time, but the rabbit was right, with Lucille sleeping, the last thing she needed was feeling like she was being watched.

* * *

Zen opened the door to one of the rooms and placed Lucille on the bed, before placing the covers over her body.

"Honestly, keeping an eye on you makes _me_ feel exhausted. This is what happens when you push your body beyond your limits you know." Zen complained, although he knew that he was mostly talking to himself.

"Even so, sleep well, Lucille." Zen started to leave, but when he looked back for a moment, he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him, because for one brief moment, he didn't see Lucille, but another girl in her place with pink and white robes wearing a fox mask over her face.

Zen closed his eyes and shook his head before looking again to see Lucille was once again there. "Maybe I should go to bed too, even my mind is starting to play tricks on me."

Lucille, although still very sleepy, managed to make out someone was in the room with her, so she opened her eyes ever so slightly, she didn't know if it was because she was still very sleepy, but for some reason instead of Zen who was about leave the room completely, she didn't see him, but someone else in his place. Someone in a yellow robe and wore the mask of a leopard...

 _'Who...is that?'_ Lucille's mentally asked in her own subconscious before sleep took her again.

* * *

Whooo! Finally, I'm done. x.x

I apologise if this feels like the weakest one so far, but I found Olympus Coliseum pretty hard to get around until I decided I got the idea to add other Final Fantasy characters in it.

I hope you guys all enjoyed the latest chapter and with luck, I'll be able to get the next chapter out sooner rather than later.

The reason why I gave Warrior of Light the name Light was because in Final Fantasy I, the game that he originally debuted in, they never gave us an official name, he was just the Warrior of Light. XD

And even now we don't have an official name for him. =P So I decided to on Light since it fits with the fact that he's a Warrior of Light. XD

Anyways, please look forward to the next chapter, until then, happy reading folks! Moogle Empress out!

Moogle: Kupo!


	8. Episode 8: Memoria, World of Memories

Heya there folks! So here we are at Episode 8, you're probably wondering this is where they'll end up in Deep Jungle, right? Well...nope, they're going to another world this time. The reason for this was because Deep Jungle or the world of Tarzan never returns after KH1. Besides, I found it differcult to think of a before or after with that world. =3

I would like to thank everyone who has either reviewed, favorited, followed or even just read this story so far. I'm really happy that people are taking time to read it, and I hope you continue to do so, as the tale of Lucille and her friends continues!

So here is Chapter/Episode 8, enjoy! =D

*goes back to playing Stormblood*

* * *

 **Episode 8: Memoria, the World of Memories**

* * *

It had been some time since they left Olympus Coliseum, while Oswald was still driving the vessel, Florian and Chi had went to check up on Lucille. Meanwhile, Zen was asleep just like Lucille was at this moment.

Unlike her dreams though, his was anything but pleasant. His dreams were those trapped in memories that he wanted to forget. No matter what he did though, he would always hear that sickening dark voice that has continued to haunt him ever since ten years ago, for some strange reason, it was like he was able to communicate to Zen through his dreams.

 **"You know you cannot avoid the darkness forever. Eventually, that hand that I grafted on you will eventually grow more hungry, even the Heartless will not be enough to sate it. Only a genuine heart will be able to end make the hunger stop, but even then, it is only a matter of time before the cycle begins over once again."**

"No, you're wrong. I'm nothing those monsters! I'm no Heartless!"

" **You say that, yet there are those who treat you no different than a Heartless, that they see you just as dangerous as they are, tell me, do you think they will ever think you are human again? Even if you were by some miracle to find a way to get rid of that arm of yours?"**

 _"Stop it. That's not-"_

"Stop lying to yourself. In the end, you are just another creature of the darkness, just like the Heartless. Nothing will ever be the same again, you will never become human again. You are cursed, a monster, an abomination."

The new voice this time...was his own, but it was much more bitter, more darker than Zen's usual tone. **"Don't you find it funny? That from as long as you can remember, you were alone from the very beginning? You had no family, no home to call your own, you claim that Radiant Garden is your home, but in truth, its people eventually turned on you as well, the darkness that lurked in their hearts is what brought about yours and Ion's unfortunate fate, by following that man Xehanort, they doomed their own world to destruction. Isn't that hilarious?! Doesn't make you laugh?"**

 _"Shut up! Leave Ion out of this! He didn't do anything to deserve this!"_

"Oh? Did I hit a nerve? It truly is unfortunate what happened to him. He was such a selfless little thing, always giving but never taking, he was literally everything you are not. If only he hadn't met you, he would have never turned out like that. Such an unfortunate soul."

"I said shut up!"

 **"You can protest and deny the truth all you want, but eventually,"** Zen saw a version of himself in his mind's eye, but his both his eyes flashed yellow. **"You will accept that only the darkness can give you complete oblivion from your suffering, from your pain. Just let the Darkness in and you can forget everything~"**

 _"SHUT UP!"_

And then everything turned white.

* * *

"Damn you, Xehanort! Why won't you leave me alone?! Stop playing mind games with me!"

"Z-Zen...please...stop..." Zen immediately snapped out of his anger-induced state at the soft sound, when all his senses finally came around, he was horrified at what he saw and what he was doing. His bandaged arm had turned into his claw, he must done that subconsciously while he was out of control. The claw was wrapped around Lucille's neck tightly, almost choking the life out of her.

He removed his grip and claw away quickly from her as if he had burnt his hand. All the while with a horrified look on his face. "Lucille? Lucille! Are you okay?" He could see the red marks that were left from his claw's grip on her neck. He felt so disgusted and ashamed with himself for letting something so awful happen.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine..." Lucille coughed a bit and breathed heavily to gather air into her lungs again.

"What were you doing in my room for?! Why didn't you knock?!"

"I'm sorry...I know I should have, but it sounded like you were in pain so I-"

"I told you before, didn't I? I'm dangerous to be around when alone! And this is exactly the reason why! Next time, be more careful!"

"I'm..." She sniffed, tearing up. "I'm really sorry!" She quickly fled from the room, probably going back to her own for the time being. Zen felt angry with himself again, once he had calmed down. He took his anger out on Lucille who didn't do anything wrong.

His arm returned back to its dormant state, wrapped in bandages instead of the black heartless claw that he was forced to live with for ten years.

"Damn it...I really messed up." He placed his hand over his face while gritting his teeth.

* * *

Oswald noted that the atmosphere in the cockpit felt very tense when Lucille arrived and remained as quiet as a mouse since arriving. Zen, who entered a little later, was just was quiet, not looking at any of them instead looking out the window.

Florian could feel that something was seriously wrong and wanted to get to the bottom of it, so did Chi, but neither of them had any idea how to break the ice.

"I don't like this. Those two are way too quiet, somethin' must have happened between them." Oswald motioned to the Seraph and Chirithy to have their own private discussion.

"How are we going to get them to open up? Florian could probably get something out of Lady Lucille, but Zen..." Chi whispered.

"I'll talk to Zen, you try Lucille." Oswald reassured them, as flipped the ship to go onto autopilot.

The rabbit went over to Zen and tried to break a joke to start off. "Yo Zen, think you can scowl a little more?"

"Oswald, not today."

"Oh wow, this is bad. What happened earlier? You're being awfully quiet, a little too much for my liking."

"..."

"You know you can tell me anything, right? We're partners." Oswald pressed.

Zen sighed deeply before answering. "...I had one of those nightmares again. Lucille barged in my room when she must have overheard me, and..."

"Ooohhh...I see." Oswald finally clicked without needing to ask anymore on the subject.

"I really screwed up. Now she won't even look at me, not that I can blame her. I have no one but myself to blame for this. I knew this would happen. I should have tried harder to stop her from coming with us."

"Hey, you do realize this is Lucille we're talking about here, right? It'll take more than that to scare her away."

"You don't get it Oswald, I nearly strangled the life out of her!" Zen raised his voice a little higher although keeping it low enough to so the others didn't overhear. "Those nightmares are getting worse every time, what if...one day..."

"Hey, c'mon, you're stronger than that. I know you've got some serious insecurities about yourself, but you've resisted the darkness for ten long years now, that's gotta count for something."

"But..."

"It'll be alright, you'll see. Give her some time, kay?" Oswald encouraged. Just then the ship felt a huge bump as if they had crashed into something.

"What was that?!" Lucille asked, coming out of her silence. Oswald rushed back over to the controls to see that something had gone wrong with the controls.

"We've just collided with a barrier, a really powerful one! Oh no...if I have no control over the ship that means...this world is pulling us in!"

"Is that bad?" Florian asked with a worried voice.

"It will be if end up nose-diving into this world!" Oswald cried out.

The Ortenisia ended up being pulled through it's barrier and into the world's atmosphere, but once it was through, the ship started to fall at an high speed.

Oswald did his best to use steering wheel to pull the ship upwards so they could at least land safely.

Everyone inside was thrown about throughout the chaos, then...the ship crashed and everything went dark for all of them.

* * *

"-ucille! Hey, Lucille! C'mon wake up." She heard Zen's voice echoing in her mind, when her eyes fluttered open, she looked around her surroundings to see Zen above her.

"Zen? What happened...?" Lucille slowly sat up.

"Looks like you and I got dislodged from the Gummi Ship when we crashed. I haven't been able to see Oswald or that Chirithy anywhere." Zen answered. "I also haven't heard anything from Florian, can you see him?"

Lucille quickly looked around, but saw no sign of the small blonde Seraph. "Oh no! Florian! Can you hear me? Where are you?" Lucille heard her voice being echoed a hundred times over in the strange world they found themselves in.

It looked like a crystalized world and the ground below them was like walking on the surface of water, each step making a ripple. They could even see their reflections staring back at them from the watery surface below them.

"What kind of crazy world have we've been thrown into this time?" Zen questioned the nature of this world, it was unlike none other he or Oswald had seen before previously.

"I don't see or sense him nearby, do you think he's hurt-ow! ow... ow..." Lucille tried to stand up, but her left leg surged with pain when she did, forcing her to sit down again.

"Hold on...it looks like your ankle got twisted during the crash, geez, just when you need that Florian kid and Oswald for healing magic." Zen sighed in annoyance.

"Oh...I'll be okay, I can still walk." Lucille tried to reassure him.

"...Yeeeaaah no. You'll only make it worse if you add pressure on it, guess there's no other choice." Zen lifted her up and then placed her on his back.

"A...piggyback, really?" Lucille gave a soft smirk.

"Do you want my help or not?" Zen shot a glare.

"..." Lucille sighed in defeat. "Are you sure you'll be okay carrying me?"

"Not gonna lie, you aren't as light as look, but I've had worse."

Lucille rewarded him with a light smack on his head. "Ow!"

"Jerk, if you aren't going to compliment a lady, don't say anything at all." She huffed.

"Right, I forgot, girls are sensitive about that kind of thing." Zen rolled his eyes and started to walk, hoping that they'll find something along the way.

* * *

In what seemed like hours of walking, both of them had already noted some of the weirdest things this world had to offer. In this place, time didn't seem to exist at all here, yet at certain times, the sky would turn from dawn, day, dusk and then into night, then repeat over, sometimes even going out of order.

Each shard of crystal seems to reflect another world that differs greatly from the other. They were like mirror gateways into other worlds without the need of using a gummi ship for travel.

"Hey, that one shows Traverse Town!" Lucille pointed out.

"So it does...What in the all the worlds is this place? It's like if a thousand worlds all smashed together to make one world." Zen agreed.

"I don't know...I never knew such a world like this could exist outside my islands." Lucille admitted, although the two of them had every now and then exchanged a few words, there was still obviously some distance between them, probably because of what happened earlier. It made Lucille depressed to think that Zen probably didn't want her around anymore and was just doing this out of kindness.

"Don't you think we should take a rest? At least for you to stretch your back, you've been carrying me for ages now, and I feel really guilty about it." Lucille asked.

"Might be a good idea. Won't do us any good if we're both unable to move." Zen saw that there was a quartz looking rock that they could use for sitting, so Zen decided to take up Lucille's offer. He gently dropped her down, she then sat down on the rock to ease the pressure off her injured foot while Zen stretched his arms and muscles before also sitting down the quartz rock.

"This is a really strange world, even for my standards."

"I hope Flo, Oswald and Chi are okay."

"Don't underestimate that rabbit, he's a tough one. I wouldn't worry about Florian either, we can be certain that we're all on the same world, otherwise you would be feeling a lot of heartache right now if you and Florian were worlds apart. I mean that literally."

"Really? I had no idea. Do you think Flo can track us?"

"Yeah, don't worry, if we don't find them, they'll definitely find us. Seraphim can track down those they made a pact with by using their connection to lead them."

"I see...That's good." Lucille sighed in relief.

A long moment of silence passed by them without a word being said, finally Zen spoke.

"I want to apologise for what happened when you entered my room."

"...Huh? Oh, you mean when..."

"I was being completely unfair to you. It wasn't you that I was angry at, it was myself. You probably guessed that I was suffering from a nightmare, truth is, I've been having those kind of nightmares for a long time now."

"Really? You've...that must have been so horrible to suffer those nightmares constantly. And I thought my weird dreams were bad." Lucille bit her lip.

"It's all because of this ugly, hideous thing that I have to hide from everyone. The man who gave me this arm, he uses my dreams as a way to enter my subconscious, trying twist my thoughts and corrupt me from the inside."

"Zen..."

"As a result of that, I go into violent fits when I try to wake up from them. You...accidently walked right into one, and I subconsciously tried to attack you, thinking you were that man that's been haunting me."

"So that's what you meant when you said you were dangerous to be around?" Lucille asked.

"Exactly, I'm...a monster in human form. Perhaps the Heartless and I, really are more alike than I thought."

"That's not true at all! Don't ever say that!" Lucille yelled out, making Zen jump.

She coughed to calm herself before continuing. "You're wrong, Zen. You're not a monster at all. I'm just as guilty as you. I reacted so badly to what happened, I admit that...was the first time that I was truly afraid of you."

"I can't blame you for feeling that way, it's a natural reaction. I'd actually be more worried if you didn't react." Zen didn't argue against that logic.

"In truth, I was more afraid that you hated me. I wanted to be your friend, and when that happened, I thought that I had ruined everything and I thought you would hate me for good and ask me to go back to Traverse Town."

"..." Zen was astonished at what he was hearing, she really thought that?

"That's ironic." Zen shook his head. "What scared me the most, was the fact that I could have killed you back there if I had hadn't snapped out from that nightmare. I would have never forgiven myself if I took someone's life because I failed to control myself."

"Really? So...you were just scared of hurting people?"

"Pretty much. Even so, I shouldn't have shouted at you like that. I'm sorry." Zen admitted.

"So that's what that was all about. Huh, I guess we both messed up pretty badly back there, huh?" Lucille smiled softly.

"Rather it was more me that screwed up than you. I'm thankful that you don't hate me though."

Lucille smiled and turned to face him. "You know, that's the first time that you ever said sorry to me."

"C'mon, island girl, I feel guilty enough as it is." Zen glared disapprovingly.

"Sorry, sorry." She apologised. "So, can we start over?" Lucille offered her hand.

"Tch, fine, I'll humour you." Zen rolled his eyes. "Don't think for a second that I'll start spilling my guts and life story to you just because we made up though." He added as he shook Lucille's hand.

"No worries. I'll win you over in time, just watch me~" Lucille was content with the fact that their friendship or at least what passed as friendship between them remained intact, she made a mental note from now on to make sure to heed Zen's advice next time though.

"So, now that made peace with what happened, we can get back to our current situation. why do you think we ended up here? Oswald was directing us back to Traverse Town, wasn't he?" Zen asked.

"I get the feeling that we weren't meant to find this place. Oswald mentioned there was a strong barrier placed over this world, right? What if it was put there to protect it from being discovered?" Lucille wondered.

"Huh, that's actually not such a far-fetched idea. When the old world disappeared into the darkness, legend goes that the hearts of children helped repair the broken world, they became smaller worlds, each one isolated from the next. That barrier was probably one such way to keep it isolated." Zen added his own thoughts.

"Oh, it's just like Chi said, that was the Age of Fairytales, right?"

"Exactly. Still, this world seems too unstable to be a regular world."

"Bingo~! This world is a _very_ special one that can't be accessed without special exceptions or permission from either the Elder Seraph or Master Matoya." A familiar voice rang near them.

They both snapped their heads in the direction of the voice to reveal it was...

"Moira?!" Lucille gasped.

"Oh no, it's that crazy witch again." Zen face palmed.

"How rude, it's the Magnificent Moira Delune to you! And here I was going to guide you all back to your friends, how cruel to treat your savior this way!"

"You're certainly no saviour of mine." Zen crossed his arms defiantly at her.

"How did you get here? Also, how did you know where to find us?" Lucille asked.

"Duh, this is my home, I am Master Matoya's apprentice after all. Also, blondie here was my sniffer dog." Moira side-stepped to reveal Florian.

"Lucille! I'm so glad you're okay!" Florian rushed over and hugged Lucille.

"I'm glad you're okay too Flo! What happened to you?"

"I ended waking up with Mr. Oswald and Chi but we couldn't find you or Zen anywhere. I was really worried for the both of you."

"We're okay, Flo. Thanks though. How's Oswald and the Chirithy?" Zen spoke.

"Yeah, they're both okay! They're waiting right now at Master Matoya's place, she's a nice old lady. She made us tea and cake!" Florian answered and beamed when he talked about this Matoya person that they heard a lot of from Moira.

"I can vouch for that, my Master can be pretty stern and gruff sounding at times, but she has a good heart. Helps that she does have a soft spot for young children though." Moira added.

"So that's where we need to go? Right Zen?" Lucille turned to the greenette.

"Well, Oswald hates being kept waiting so it's best to not make the rabbit angry." Zen smirked.

"Heh heh."

"Oh, you guys are talking to each other again! That's wonderful! I'm so glad that you two are getting along again." Florian noted with a big smile.

"Oh~ Did these two have a lover's quarrel?" Moira teased with a cat-like grin.

"Huh?!" Lucille flushed red. "No! That's not what happened at all!"

"Hey, witch, don't give Florian the wrong idea, unless you don't wanna live anymore." Zen growled.

"...What's a lover's quarrel?" Florian tilted his head in innocent confusion.

"N-nothing! You don't need to know anything about that!" Lucille quickly shot down.

"So defensive~ That's the first step of being in denial you know?" Moira continued to tease mercilessly.

"You're delusional witch, just show us where the rabbit and the Chirithy are already." Zen retorted.

"Pfft, you're so boring, y'know that. Maybe I should just target Lulu from now on. She's so much easier to toy with." Moira scoffed. That was when she noticed Lucille's ankle looked swollen.

"Whoa, hold on. Did you get hurt?"

"Hm? Oh, I just sprained my ankle, it's nothing serious to worry about. It does makes walking a bit difficult though."

"Well this just won't do. Give me a moment, heal." Moira shook her head and approached the brunette, she then lifted her hand to where the injured foot was. A soft glow of magic radiated from her hand, letting a wave of soothing magic flow through Lucille's leg, the soreness faded and started to dull away until it was gone completely.

Lucille tested her foot by standing upright from the rock, she found that she could walk just fine again without limping. "My foot, it's healed! Thank you Moira." Lucille thanked gratefully to the silver-blonde-haired witch.

"So you can use healing magic too?"

"Duh, I'm a witch, remember?" Moira rolled her eyes at Zen. "Anyways, no worries, Lulu. We can't have you limping all the way to Master Matoya's home, can we?"

"Why did you say something sooner, Lucille? I could have healed it." Florian asked.

"I'm sorry Flo, I didn't want to cause you any trouble." Lucille apologised.

"Who ever said that you were?" Florian countered.

"Now then, if you follow me, I'll show you to Master Matoya's home." Moira acted as their guide as they followed through with this bizarre world to where the woman known as Matoya lived.

* * *

"This isn't a house, it's a _cave_." Zen commented as soon as they arrived at what was apparently the home of Master Matoya, Moira's mentor.

"You should never judge things on the surface, Claw boy." Moira scoffed.

"Hmph."

"So...Master Matoya lives here, right? I'm a little nervous." Lucille admitted.

"Ah you'll be fine, Lulu. Master Matoya had been expected you for some time now." Moira winked.

"She has?"

"My Master will tell you the juicy details inside, c'mon let's go!" Moira hooked an arm around Lucille's and dragged her in.

"Whoa! Take it easy!" Lucille almost lost her footing but managed to recover. Florian followed behind them with Zen eventually also following after a few more seconds of staring at the entrance.

When they were inside, it felt like they weren't inside a cave at all, the large room certainly looked like a place befitting an all-powerful Mage. There was wooden furniture with gnarled roots for legs, various kinds of wizardry-like objects and materials, the shelves were full of ancient-looking books with various relics that must have come from different past eras.

In the middle of the room, she saw a circular table with a crystal ball resting upon a purple velvet pillow. It was almost like you could see a whole galaxy within it if one looked closely enough.

"Wow...this place looks exactly what I imagined a wizard's home to be like! This is so amazing!" Lucille went starry-eyed with wonderment at the sight.

"Okay, give me a moment, I'll go fetch my Master along with the rabbit and the furball." Moira turned to face them. "Feel free to look around while waiting, but just a peice of advice, don't touch Master Matoya's stuff, trust me I learned this the hard way." Moira gave a light-hearted warning before skipping off to find her Master.

Lucille and Flo curiously gazed around the room carefully while Zen was just leaning against a nearby wall with his arms crossed.

"It's funny, I've read about these magical places in the books I read back home all the time, but it really pales in comparison when seeing the real thing."

"...You really love seeing new worlds don't you?" Zen asked.

"Yeah, until now, I've only seen places like this through the books I read, and even then, I have to leave it to my imagination to fill the gaps. Seeing places like this with my own eyes is an incredible experience. I just wish...Sora, Riku and Kairi could have been here too."

"They'll be okay, Lucille. We know Sora is in good hands with King Mickey's friends. Riku has a really strong heart, he'll be okay no matter where he is now. And Kairi's heart somewhere safe, I know it is." Florian encouraged.

"Yeah, you're right, thank you, Flo." Lucille nodded and thanked the small Seraph. "Besides, Riku still owes me an apology for throwing me through that door. Stupid jerk!"

"You're never gonna let it go are you?" Florian laughed sheepishly.

"I've been wondering...where **are** we exactly? I've never seen a world like this one before. Not even after all the worlds Oswald and I visited." Zen questioned.

"I didn't even know such a world like this could exist. It's so bizarre." Lucille was with Zen on this, she wanted to know the name of this world too.

"You...are in the world that exists, and yet it does not at the same time. I guess one could say it is a world where all time begins and ends." An older voice arrived into the room, closing a wooden door behind her. Oswald and Chi were also with her.

"Lady Lucille!" Chi ran over almost instantly and hugged the brunette's leg. "I'm so happy that you are alright! Wahhh! It was so horrible without you, I kept thinking all of these worst scenarios in my head, I wanted to go with Lord Florian to find you but-!"

Lucille smiled, bending down and stroking the soft fur of the small dream eater. "I'm really glad you and Oswald are okay too." Lucille comforted.

"Boy, am I glad to see you two pulled through okay. I was beginning to worry about ya. Not too much mind you, but you know, as the leader of this group, gotta watch for all my crew." Oswald was relieved to see they were both okay. Although he tried sound tough and play down his worries about them. Zen could read that rabbit just as well as Oswald could read him.

"Good to see you guys managed to avoid getting hurt too. That was some crash." Zen voiced his relief.

"It sure was a close call. My Ortensia took quite a beating though, ugh, Cid is gonna turn me into rabbit soup when we get back to Traverse Town I just know it." Oswald groaned at the thought of confronting the old mechanic about repairing the ship yet again.

"So, we meet face to face at last, children. Welcome to Memoria, the world of memories. I am sure my young apprentice has already told you, I am Matoya, custodian and guardian of this world." The old woman greeted both Lucille and Zen.

She was an elderly woman wearing long purple mage-like robes and a pointed hat that had it's end slightly crooked, she had a long staff in one hand that she used to walk and support herself with and she had both the appearance and aura of someone who had lived for thousands of millennia. Her eyes looked colourless and pale.

"T-the honour is all ours, Master Matoya." Lucille politely bowed.

"...I don't see her." Zen narrowed his eyes as he noted quietly to himself.

"Memoria?" Oswald questioned, raising his ears in curiosity at this.

"Just as I said, Memoria is essentially a vast library of memories, recording the memory of every world to exist, you saw it for yourself, did you not? How each shard showed a image of different world? They are the essence of the memories of that world, etched in within the world's heart."

"Interesting, so this world contains the memories of countless worlds, but what's the purpose of doing that?" Zen had a thoughtful look as he processed the information.

"In order to preserve their memory. This world originally was lifeless after the tragedy that befell the old world. However, this world gradually soon became a safe haven for other worlds that fell into darkness, their memories would be stored here for safe-keeping, and when those worlds are restored and freed from the darkness, those memories would be restored as well."

"So, this world is like a giant archive of memories from countless worlds, to protect them from being devoured by the darkness right?" Oswald glued the pieces of information together.

"Indeed, even memories are not safe from the forces of Darkness, if someone with a dark heart were able to warp or twist the memories of that world, the world's heart will also be warped and twisted when it reawakens.

"I think I understand. So in order to prevent that world from being corrupted from the inside, the true memories are kept safe here and when those worlds come back, those memories would restore the world back to its true form, the way it used to be before the Heartless claimed it." Lucille theorized.

"Very good, you catch on quick, child." Matoya praised.

"As you may have noticed though, due to the nature of all worlds having their own flow of time, when those memories are brought here, it causes an strange reaction in the sky of this world, causing time to often flux or shift at an unpredictable speed." Moira added, in a rare moment of her being serious.

"Oh yeah! When the sky kept changing from different times of the day! So that was side-effect of having so many memories of different worlds merged together like that?"

"Bingo~" Moira nodded with a wink.

"So that's what caused the sky to warp around like that. Still feels really weird to see something like that happen, even if we know the cause now." Zen nodded.

"Does that mean...you have Destiny Islands' memories here too?" Florian asked quietly.

"Yes, rest assured, the memories of your world are safely secured here." Matoya answered.

"I'm so glad. So when we save Destiny Islands, it'll be just like we remembered it." Lucille smiled softly.

"Now I understand why that invisible barrier of light around Memoria was there. It was to protect it from ever being discovered by outsiders, to protect the real treasures within it, the precious memories of all these worlds." Oswald now had a better understanding of how important it was for this world to remain a secret.

"Yup, you won't find it on your Star Chart either, in truth, you guys weren't meant to stumble on this place like you did. I guess that's what happens when Memoria warps around the interspace like a break dancer." Moira placed her hands behind her head.

"The world teleports around? Wait, you mean like Master Yen Sid's Tower?!" Oswald clicked.

"Yes, this world never stays in one place, it would seem your Master also had the right idea to keep his location hidden from sight as well." Matoya nodded.

"So um...Master Matoya. What is it that you do here?" Lucille asked curiously.

"Ha, you've taken some advice from your Seraph partner have you?" The woman chuckled. "I beleive he can answer your question for you."

Florian turned to Lucille to explain what the elderly woman meant. "She's an Elder Seraph just like Lord Yggdrasil, Lucille. She protects Memoria's heart as well as all the memories that are stored away here."

"You're a Seraph?!" Lucille took a step back in surprise.

"So that's why I can't see this Matoya person physically." Zen figured out.

"Ah yes, you lost your ability to see Seraphim when you were given that Claw of Darkness against your will, is that right?" Matoya turned to Zen.

"Yeah...Although I can definitely hear your voice."

"Pah, good enough for me. So long as you can heed my words, there will not be any problems."

"Sassy old lady, isn't she?" Oswald whispered.

"What about Moira? Is she a Seraph too?"

"No, she are my apprentice, She acts as my eyes and ears since I am this world's guardian, my place is here to protect it from those who would seek to bring chaos and discord to this sacred land."

"We do possess a similar ability to Master Matoya though, we have the power of precognition, or seer-sight if you prefer." Moira noted.

"Oh yeah, you used that before in Traverse Town."

"Yup, like I said though, I'm still a newbie compared to my Master. So my precognition powers only works well in some worlds."

"Even one such as I, there are places where even my sight cannot perceive so long as the cloak of darkness surrounds a world, or had fallen into the Realm of Darkness. Hallow Bastion is one such world."

"What is Hallow Bastion?" Lucille asked curiously.

"...That..." Zen hesitated to answer.

"I'm afraid I cannot answer that, child. It would be better to hear it from that boy's mouth than my own." Matoya shook her head.

Lucille turned to Zen. Her mind clicked instantly when she put the puzzle pieces in her head together. "Is that your home world?"

"..."

"Okay, I won't ask again." Lucille respected Zen's silence, she could only imagine how painful it must have been for Zen.

"I will say this though, Lucille. I won't forgive that man for what he did. I'll even choke him with the very claw he gave to me if I ever see him." Zen added morbidly.

"Well that got dark quick." Moira whistled.

Matoya smacked Zen's head with her staff. "Ow! What was that for?!"

"Be cautious, boy. I understand your justified anger towards Xehanort, but do not stray off too far from the path to dawn that you walk."

Path to what now?" Zen repeated with confusion.

"I am an Elder Seraph remember? Just call it an old woman's advice who had seen far too many good hearts stray into the dark too easily."

"Zen will be okay, Master Matoya!" Lucille spoke up in Zen's defence. "His heart's stronger than that. Besides, he's got us! We'll make sure he doesn't too overboard with his claw arm." Lucille cheered.

"Yeah, we're friends after all!" Florian agreed.

"Well that's a no brainer. I'd be a lousy partner if I allowed that to happen on my watch. Also Aster would probably kill me if I let that happen." Oswald added.

"I don't know if I should feel insulted or not that you guys feel the need to babysit me." Zen sarcastically responded.

"Hey! Would it hurt you to show a little emotion every now and then?" Lucille placed her hands on her hips and puffed her cheeks in annoyance.

"Still...I'm glad you guys are around to keep me anchored the light, thanks." Zen replied so softly, none of them heard it.

"Huh? Did you say something?" Lucille asked curiously. "I could have sworn you were muttering something."

"You're imagining it, island girl. Trust me, if I said something, I would let you know." Zen was quick to place his well-guarded mask back on.

"What? No! You totally said something just then! I demand an answer!" Lucille cried out.

Matoya chuckled. "I guess Moira was right when she said I was worrying over nothing."

Moira simply winked.

"Anyway, I believe it's high time you lot got back on your journey."

"Isn't the Ortensia still being repaired though?" Florian questioned.

"Oh, the Ortensia has been repaired! Well...kind of." Chi answered the smaller Seraph.

"It will get you to Traverse Town, but you will need a professional to fully restore your vessel." Matoya added.

"Ugh, **that's** why I'm worried about facing the old man." Oswald groaned.

"There there." Lucille patted the rabbit's back.

"I'll talk to Aster, he can probably win over Cid better than any of us." Zen offered.

"Well, guess it's goodbye for now, Lulu." Moira told the brunette girl.

"Moira...I want to apologise to you." Lucille started.

"Eh? What apology?" Moira raised an eyebrow.

"For how I treated you back when we first met. At first, I thought you were just some crazy werido who made some really wild predictions. In the end though, you were right, and you've helped us so many times even after I how treated you."

"Pfft, that? Why apologise for that? Not every day you meet, the Magnificent Moira Delune!" Moira made her pose once again but gave a small smile. "Besides, I'm not sure why, but I got a good feeling about ya, and about that twin brother of yours too. Call it a witch's hunch."

"Even so, thanks."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention, some wizard has set up shop in Traverse Town. Merlin or something, isn't that the guy you wanted to talk about that Seraphim pact thingie?" Moira recalled.

"Merlin's arrived! Good, I've been wanting to talk to that guy." Oswald was pleased with his news.

"Master Matoya, do you know anything about Seraphim pacts?" Lucille asked out of curiosity.

"I am afraid I do not, I have never made a pact with a human or any mortal before. Merlin however is well-versed in all forms of knowledge and just as ageless as I, if anyone will know the answers you crave, it will be him."

"Guess we're going back to Traverse Town." Florian turned to Lucille.

Lucille nodded. "Yup, maybe Sora will be there too, I hope so, I have so much to tell him!"

"I ask that you keep Memoria a secret from everyone when you leave this place."

"Don't worry, we won't tell a soul about this place, I promise. Besides, even memories got to have a safe place to go, right?" Lucille promised.

"Hmhm, the aura that your heart radiates tell me all the truth that I need to see. I know you will be true your word." Matoya smiled.

"Huh?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, Master Matoya is blind." Moira noted.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, I-" Lucille panicked.

"Hohohoho, good grief, girl. I'm blind not dull-witted. I do not need eyes to see or protect myself. I have other ways of seeing the world."

"You mean...that crystal ball?" Lucille pointed to the see-through glass ball.

"Indeed, but I can also see aura of hearts, it is quite handy for telling friend from foe. Now then, it is time for you to depart, if you leave on your ship now, Memoria should be arriving near where Traverse Town would be."

"Thank you for everything, Master Matoya." Lucille thanked her.

As the group started to move to the room where the Gummi Ship was, they were stopped once more.

"Ah yes, I had almost forgotten, Moira, if you would." Matoya turned to her apprentice.

"Oh yeah! Forgot I had that, here, you were searching for these things right?" Moira took out a Lux Fragment and gave it to Lucille.

"A Lux Fragment?! Where did you find it?" Oswald gasped.

"It fell out of the memories of a world that was recently recorded into Memoria's archives. I believe it will prove more useful to you than it will stored away on my shelves."

"Thank you Master Matoya."

"Even though the chances of you running into Memoria again are slim, you can always use the comsphere that Moira gave you, should you ever need my advice." Matoya offered.

"That...actually would be pretty dang useful, Master Matoya. Thanks." Oswald thanked.

"Now then, don't let me keep you. Off you go, young'uns. You've got countless worlds to yet explore."

"Right, see you soon then!" Lucille smiled and waved.

* * *

Now that Lucille and her friends had departed from Memoria and onwards to Traverse Town. The old Seer and Moira were sitting at the table that held the crystal ball on top.

"You could have just told them that you foresaw them crashing into this world. Why keep it a secret." Moira scoffed.

"Ah, that was something they didn't need to know. Besides, it was nice to finally meet the young girl who inherited Master Ava's heart, such a sweetheart. I must admit, I'm surprised that the young lad ended up being...what was that young man's name again, the one with the Leopard mask?"

"You're getting old, Master." Moira snickered.

"Don't get cocky with me, young lady." Matoya scolded. She then glanced down to her crystal ball. "Moira, I will need you to continue to watch over them. I sense they will face something terrible in the days ahead."

"...Eh?" Moira tilted her head in confusion.

* * *

Meanwhile over the desolate world that was once called Radiant Garden, Riku had been wandering the halls endlessly since coming here. He had no interest in what Maleficent or her gang of goons were up to, but unfortunately, they were his only lead to finding out where his friends were.

He was worried about all three of them, especially Kairi and Lucille. For some strange reason, his memory of what before and after the whole incident was...fuzzy, he didn't remember some things about it, he remembered Sora and his confused look when they have met on the Islet and that Sora had tried to reach out to him, but even then, it felt a little hazy.

But he didn't remember what happened to Kairi or Lucille during the whole thing. For some reason, when he thought of Lucille, he felt guilt eat away at his heart, but he didn't know why he would feel that way. Did he do something bad that he had no memory of?

His train of thoughts ended when he sensed there was something or someone watching him.

"Hey, I know you're there. Come out already."

And to Riku's surprise, he did see someone come out hiding, but something was...odd about this person, and he had to admit, he took a step back in shock when he saw the person's face.

His body was completely transparent like a ghost, however, it seemed like his body was being twisted and morphed by some kind of dark substance and half of his face was alike that to one of those black creatures that Maleficent called the Heartless.

"You...who are...?" Riku tried to ask but he couldn't bring himself to say anymore, he was disturbed by what he saw.

"It's awful, isn't it?" The ghostly boy laughed sadly. "This...is what happens when Seraph becomes tainted with darkness. Very soon...I won't...even be myself anymore."

"Seraph...? Wait, I don't understand, who are you?"

"...Does it even matter? I can't be saved and I'll become a creature of the darkness, it's a little ironic when you think about. I just wished...I could see my friends again, just once more before nothing of the old me remains."

"...Is this what darkness is capable of doing to a person?" Riku felt a part of him wanted to help this stranger as he did feel sorry but...

"It differs to each person, but it is a fate I would not wish on anyone. Even so, until the darkness takes every part of me, I will do whatever it takes to protect this world, I won't let it be consumed completely by darkness like me. So long as I remain as the final lock on this world's heart, I will fight those who would dare unleash that darkness onto this realm to my very last breath. I promised my friends after all."

"..."

"What about you? Don't you have people you are willing to fight to the bitter end to protect?" The boy asked Riku.

"...Yeah, you could say that." Riku didn't exactly give a straight answer, but it seemed this strange boy seemed to have understood.

"Then for the sake of your friends, please be careful around the woman who calls herself Maleficent, she's a bad lady, and she'll use you. Just like...how Xehanort used Zen and me."

"Xehanort...?" Riku looked confused.

The boy gasped. "She's coming!" With that the boy started fading away back into thin air. "Hey, wait!" But he was completely gone, what did he see just now?

"Ah, there you are, child. Who were you speaking to?" Maleficent slinked around the corner.

"...No one." Riku attempted to brush off in order to keep the evil fairy from pressing any further. Still, what did that strange boy mean by 'as the final lock of Hallow Bastion's heart?'

"Very well, no matter. I have some information for you about two of your friends, they have been spotted in Traverse Town."

"They have?! Then that's where I'm going then." Riku's heart leaped at the news.

"Of course, I will show you a fast way of travelling to that world, with the power of darkness." Maleficent told him.

Riku was a bit hesitant to believe anything this witch said, especially after that run in with the strange ghostly boy. But...his friends, he had to go and find his friends. "Alright, let's go."

Maleficent smiled darkly, this would so much easier than she thought.

* * *

Oh god, I finally got around and completed this! x.x

Sorry it took so long to update, I was halfway with his chapter to until writer block struck putting me out of action for a while...then later came Stormblood. *shifty eyes*

I'm so sorry! DX

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please read and review. Also big shout out to everyone who has reviewed, favourite, followed and read this fan fic. Your support gives me life! \o/

Look forward to the next instalment, until then, happy reading everyone!

Moogle Empress out!

Moogle: Kupo!


	9. Episode 9: Traverse Town Revisited

Heya folks. Back with chapter 9 in tow. Now that we're at Traverse Town once again, I would like to thank everyone again, who has reviewed, followed, favorited or even just continued to read this fan fic. It makes me happy that people enjoy this fan fic. Even though this fan fic has not reached it's conclusion yet, I'm intending to continue this story in future sequels and possibly a prequel to mirror 'Birth by Sleep', but let's concentrate on this one first, before planning that far ahead. XD

As mentioned in my previous chapter, the reason why I choose to not use Deep Jungle was due to the fact it only appeared in KH 1 and never appeared again. It also would have been too complex to find a way to fit Lucille and the gang in after Sora and his friends visit to it, and before wouldn't have worked either.

So I decided to not include Deep Jungle entirely and keep that world solely only visited by Sora, so sadly no Tarzan. =(

This might happen for Halloween Town and Atlantica too since I'm not sure how to fit Lucille's group in. Unless you guys are okay with the two groups joining forces for those two worlds? Then I'd totally be on-board with that, please let me know what you think. =3

If not, I can always create original worlds to replace the ones I can't fit in due to the way the story pans out in Sora's visits to those worlds. Aladdin, Monstro and Peter Pan's world will take place as it was in the game, so don't worry. =3

It's just Halloween Town and Atlantica that I'm having problems with. =P

Also for anyone curious, I have actually done a little revising on Episode 1: Destiny Islands. I felt that the original backstory for Lucille's accident seven years ago felt a little out of place considering the world they lived in, so I changed the backstory of Lucille's accident to make it fit Destiny Islands a bit more. So if you like, please go back to chapter 1 and let me know if you like the change I made. =3

I personally like the new change, but I still have the original as back-up if you want me to revert it back. XD

By the time this chapter comes up, the revised chapter 1 will already be updated. =3

Now then, with no further delay, onwards to chapter 9, please enjoy! =3

* * *

Episode 9: Traverse Town Revisited

* * *

Back in Traverse Town, in Cid's accessory job, even though his true passion is in Gummi Ship building, Aster was tending the store as usual since Cid was out of the shop to visit Leon, Yuffie and Aerith.

"It's so quiet today, you could probably hear a munny drop." He heard some commotion from the upper part of the building, and saw a Moogle with a pink puffy bow attached to their antenna that connected to their pom-pom, float through an open window that Aster had opened earlier, even if it was perpetual night here, some days could be too humid to keep the windows closed.

"Kupo! Here are some new accessories for the store, kupo! I hope your customers will find them to their liking, kupo." The small Moogle, announced, bestowing a medium sized pouch, that was filled with Moogle-made trinkets and charms.

"Ah I remember, the order Cid asked for. Thank you, Moglette, thank the other Moogles at your alchemy shop for me, we've been needing some new stock." Aster thanked.

"We should be thanking you and Mr. Cid for letting us borrow your attic for our business, kupo. Did you manage to work out new sleeping arrangements, kupo?"

"Yeah, the old man and I are staying at the Hotel in the 2nd District with Leon and the others."

"But, that place is crawling in Heartless, kupo!" Moglette panicked.

"Ah, don't worry about me and the old man. We're stronger than we look, I assure you." Aster winked.

"If you say so, kupo." Moglette seemed unsure but she always assumed Mr. Cid and Aster had good heads and knew how to look after themselves, unlike her or her kin that made shop upstairs, their forte was in making magical charms and accessories, not fighting.

They heard the bell above the door chime, meaning someone had entered the store. "Welcome to our store, how can we-Oh hey you guys!" Aster started but his smile grew wider when he saw who it was.

"Hi Aster!" Lucille waved brightly.

"Hey, looks like the Heartless still hasn't caught you yet, huh?"

"Nice to see your faith in me hasn't faltered yet." Aster rolled his eyes at Zen's attempt of friendly greet.

"But yeah, it's nice to see you too." Zen added to which Aster grinned at.

"See? Was that so hard to admit?"

"Oh shut up, four-eyes." Zen retorted what Aster considered as playful retaliation.

"Anyway, teasing aside, how's your journey been? Made some progress in your search?"

"Well..." Lucille started into retelling their whole adventure thus far to Aster.

* * *

It was ten minutes later when Lucille finally finished.

"I see. So you found two unusual gummi ship parts, and two Lux Fragments, but you've yet to hear any news about your two other friends?"

"Yeah, but I'm sure they're still okay." Lucille positively responded.

"Well if they are anything like you and your brother, I'm sure they're out there somewhere. Never say never, right?" He looked around and noticed the rabbit wasn't with them. "Where's Oswald?" Aster wondered.

"Yeeeaah, there's a reason for that." Zen started.

"Let me guess, he broke the Ortensia again." Aster answered easily.

"Never one to mince words, are you?" Zen sighed.

"I figured that's why. Man, the old man isn't going to be happy to hear that, but I think I can smooth him over enough to fix it for you."

"We'd appreciate it, especially Oswald, thanks." Zen smiled softly at his closest friend.

"...Is that a Moogle?" Florian asked innocently.

"Oh that's right. There's been a bit of a change while you guys were away. A flock of gifted Moogles made refuge in this district, they've been trying to find a small building they can use to set up an alchemy shop for crafting special accessories and charms designed for battle. Cid must have felt sorry for the little guys and offered our attic up for them to make shop." Aster explained.

"Aww, Mr. Cid is such a big softie." Lucille commented.

"He's rough on the edges, but he'll never abandon someone in need." Aster nodded.

"We are humbly indebted to Mr. Cid and Aster here, kupo. So we offer our services for free as a way to express our gratitude. I am Moglette, head alchemist of the Mooglecrafts Shop, very nice to meet you, kupo."

"Wow, a real Moogle! My teacher only told me of their existance, this is my first time seeing one!" Florian went starry-eyed.

"You do not have Moogles in your home world, kupo?" Moglette asked curiously.

"Nope, this is the first time I've seen one of you guys too. You're so cute! You kind of reminds me of a plushie doll."

"I'm still here, you know." Chi huffed, obviously not hiding the tinge of jealousy.

Lucille turned and picked up the Chirithy. "Aw, no Moogle can replace you, Chi, you're one of a kind to us and our little buddy." Lucille hugged Chi like a cuddly toy.

Chi sniffed. "Lady Lucille..."

"Is it true that your pom-poms hold a lot of magical power like unicorn horns?" Florian inquisitively asked.

"Why would **even** want to know that?" Zen raised an eyebrow in pure confusion.

"My teacher told me that the pom-pom of Moogles have a lot of magical energy stored inside them, it's where all their magic comes from. And if someone were to pull or tug on a Moogle's pom-pom harshly, they'd get a hundred years bad luck." Florian explained excitedly.

"Wait...what? Is that true?!" Lucille blinked and gasped.

"Well I wouldn't _exactly_ say that, kupo." Moglette sweat dropped. "It's true that if someone hurts our pom-poms, we would hex them, but it would only be for a few days at most, but those hexes would certainly make them think twice before repeating their mistake again, kupo." Moglette answered.

"Oh, I see."

"I think your teacher was...exaggerating the facts a little." Aster fixed his glasses as he said this.

"I wonder what your teacher is like, Flo. He sounds...interesting." Lucille asked.

"Oh, you guys would like him. He's pretty carefree and really likable, but...he tends to try and press Lord Yggdrasil's patience at times with his strange ways of teaching new-born and young Seraphim."

"I like this guy already." Zen smirked to himself.

"Sounds like you had an interesting education, Lord Florian." Chi noted.

"He used to be the former guardian of Destiny Islands before I took over from him. You see, the younger Seraphim would often be trained to replace the older guardians as a way of learning experience and to bolster our growth." Florian explained.

"Oh, so you took over for your teacher? So what happened to him after you became the Guardian of our islands?" Lucille wondered.

"The older Seraphim move on to new roles, such as gathering information about the current state of the Realms of Light and Dark and to combat the rising forces of the Heartless." Florian added.

"So basically, guardianship is left to the younger Seraphim? Isn't that a little cruel to give such a big job so early in their life?" Zen wasn't sure if he liked the idea that the young ones were given such a huge responsibility at such an early stage.

"I guess it does sound cruel when you put it like that. I think it was to teach us at a young stage that we have a responsibility to protect worlds from being consumed by darkness." Florian answered.

"..."

"Well, in any case, I'll go break the news to Cid. Why don't you explore the town a little?" Aster offered.

"Sounds like an idea, we were going to search for someone named Merlin anyway." Lucille nodded.

"Oh yeah, Oswald told me to drop these off with you." Zen then gave the two gummi parts that they had found over to Aster. "Show these to Cid, I'm sure he knows what to do with them."

"Hmm...These are navigation gummi blocks, not the usual kind we make, they're still in good condition though. I think the old man and I can repair them, we can then apply them to your ship and you'll be able to go to worlds you couldn't have before." Aster nodded.

"I need to return to my store, kupo! Come and visit us when you have time, we'll be happy to make any accessories for you if you have the munny, kupo~" Moglette told them as she started to float back towards the window she flew in from.

"Bye Moglette! We'll come and visit you soon! I want to see that store of yours!" Lucille waved back.

"See you guys soon then. I'll be depending on you to keep Zen safe, got it?" Aster winked.

"Heh heh, you got it." Lucille grinned.

"You make it sound as if I can't defend myself, besides that should be MY line to you, smart-aleck." Zen scoffed.

"Pfft, I can handle my own safety, thank you." Aster rolled his eyes. "Anyway, catch you later." Aster waved to them before leaving the store with the gummi blocks in hand to search for Cid.

"Guess we better go as well." Florian turned to Lucille.

"Yeah, we got a wizard to find." Lucille nodded.

They left the store and went on route to Third District where Oswald said he would be waiting.

* * *

Upon arriving at the Third District, the small group hung around waiting for the rabbit.

"Say Zen, can I ask you something? How long have you and Aster known each other? From the way you two talk, it sounds like you're pretty close." Lucille questioned.

"...I suppose there's no point in keeping that a secret. I'm sure Aster would tell it to you...if he could remember it that is."

"What do you mean by that?" Florian looked puzzled.

"Wait, are you saying that Aster suffered some kind of memory loss?!" Chi theorized a horrible scenario.

"Yeah...Aster and I actually grew up together in the same world, we were very close even back then, he even had a little sister whom he cherished dearly, but...when the world fell into darkness, in the chaos of it all, when we found Aster, he was unconscious, but one of the royal guards of the castle, I think his name was Aeleus, he saved Aster and bought enough time for Cid and Oswald to help get us along with some of the survivors to safety, I don't know what happened to him, but I don't think he ever got out."

"Oswald was there at the time of the attack?" Florian pressed.

"He had been visiting at the time, but yeah, pretty bad timing huh? Either way, we found haven here in Traverse Town. Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, Aster and I, we were the only survivors that Cid and Oswald were able to help, I don't know who else managed to get out. When Aster finally woke up, he had forgotten everything, he forgot about me, about who he was before, he didn't even remember his name until we told him it."

"Zen...I'm so sorry." Lucille was at a loss for words, how painful would that be if something similar had happened to Sora when he had woken up in that Inn room, not even able to recognize his own twin sister, his family and his friends, his home or even his own name? Lucille couldn't even imagine the heartbreak she would have felt.

"At first...I had felt so ashamed of myself, I was powerless to do anything, not even protect the ones I cherished so dearly. But...even though he couldn't remember me, he told me something. "I may not remember you yet, but my heart feels like it has already known you for a long time."

"Aster's heart remembered you...How extraordinary! That is a genuine sign of how much he cares for you, Zen." Chi was awed.

"Yeah, we might prod each other to the point of annoyance but Aster will always be my best friend, not even amnesia could take that away."

Lucille smiled softly. "You've made a really great friend, Zen. I feel like Aster's the kind of guy who would always have your back, no matter what people said about you."

"..." Zen didn't respond but deep in his thoughts he admitted, _'Yeah, he would, even when I tried to push him away, he just pushes back. Man, what a stubborn friend I ended up making, just like an annoying island girl and rabbit I know."_

"That reminds me, you said Aster had a little sister, you didn't mention her as one the people who got out of that world during the attack. Does that mean she was not with you when you escaped?" Florian recalled.

Zen shook his head. "No, we never did find her. I had been hoping that she somehow managed to find refuge on one of the many worlds out there. I know I would recognize her if I saw her, but I haven't seen anyone who looked like her. If she's anything like her brother, which I know she is. I know she's still alive out there somewhere."

Lucille placed her hands on her hips. "Well, that means we have another person to look for on our journey then, don't we? We'll find Aster's sister! I'm sure she's still out there somewhere, waiting for you guys. And then she'll scold you for making a young lady wait for you slowpokes to find her." Lucille confidently smiled.

"...If Aster only knew the truth about himself, I'm sure he would deeply appreciate that." Zen added softly to himself, quiet enough so Lucille didn't overhear him.

"Ahem, right. That's all the information you're going to pry off me. Don't think I'm going to go any deeper than that." Zen defended, by placing his well-practiced mask over him once again, kicking himself a little for dropping his guard like that. That was so unlike him, damn it Aster, even when he's not around, he exposes a side of Zen that not many had seen. So far, it had been only Aster and Oswald to see his vulnerabilities.

"That's fine. It was kinda personal but I'm really touched that you trusted us enough to share it. Thank you." Lucille thanked.

"...Whatever, island girl, don't think this means anything, you've got a _long_ way to go before you reach Aster's or Oswald's level." Zen retorted.

"Oh geez, thanks! I'll remember that next time we're in a fight, you jerk! And stop calling me Island girl! That's getting really old!" Lucille rolled her eyes and went into a rant.

While the two continued to bicker, none of them had noticed that the black and white rabbit was hiding behind the shadows of a building, with a soft smile on his lips.

"Heh, that girl is really something else. Maybe she's exactly what Zen needs around after all." Oswald monologue to himself. Oswald had noticed the slight changes in Zen since Lucille had joined them, he didn't know if was due to Florian's pact with her or it was just Lucille herself, but she was clearly influencing Zen, slowly but surely, the open wounds in Zen's heart was starting to heal.

It would still be a long journey to recovery for him, but it was certainly a good start, anything to starve off the darkness that he knew was gnawing away at his partner's heart.

He would find a way to save Zen from the darkness that man Xehanort had forced upon him, he promised Ion after all, he didn't know him as well as Zen, but he remembered parting words of Zen's other best friend.

"Please keep them safe from Xehanort, so long as they are safe, that's all that matters to me. My only lingering regret, is that I can't be with them anymore."

He never knew what happened to that kid, he remembered that he mentioned he was going to seal the Keyhole the only way he knew how, even though he was no Keyblade wielder. Oswald never had the heart to ask Zen about who Ion was, but he didn't think he needed to ask, when he already knew the answer. Oswald was a very smart rabbit, it didn't take much to put the puzzle pieces together.

He shook his head of his thoughts, now was not to time to ponder over such questions. Coming out of the shadows of the building he had been hiding behind and approached the group as if he had just arrived in the district.

"Hey there, I take it the talk with the old man went well?" Oswald asked.

The two stopped their arguing and faced the rabbit.

"There you are, you're late rabbit!" Zen frowned.

"Yeah I know, bite me, I had to stay low so I didn't accidently run into the old man while getting here." Oswald rolled his eyes.

"Well, we didn't meet Cid, but we did tell Aster about the repairs needed for the Ortensia. He agreed to talk with Cid about it along with those gummi block parts we found." Lucille explained what had happened in Oswald's absence.

"I see, if anyone can convince the old man, it'll be that kid. In the meantime, I guess that means we're stranded on Traverse Town for a while, might as well take this time for some good rest."

"I like that idea, we do want to find your friend, Merlin after all." Florian nodded.

"Yup, the more we can learn about this Seraphim pact thingie, the more prepared we are. Knowledge is power as they say. Also I want to explore Traverse Town more!" Lucille's eyes lit with excited joy at the thought of exploring Traverse Town more.

"She gets so excited about the smallest things." Zen sighed hopelessly.

"Well, lucky for you guys, I've already found out where he's hiding out." Oswald puffed his chest with pride.

"...And where is this exactly?" Zen raised an eyebrow.

"Right there." Oswald pointed to door that once had the fire emblem on it, they obviously never got around to fixing it.

"Heh heh, that's the cave where Moira dragged me too when she grabbed me out of the blue that one time." Lucille laughed nervously at the memory.

"I wonder if the loony witch saw this coming too." Zen scoffed.

"Now now, Zen, be nice." Oswald scolded lightly.

"Welp, might as well go in." Lucille took the first steps inside, followed by everyone else.

* * *

After having the jump over stones in the water that moved every now and then (and accidently falling in, leaving her drenched) they arrived at the rundown wizard shack.

"Poor Lucille." Florian felt sorry for his friend, especially since he could just float over the rocks.

"Your coordination really sucks." Zen snickered.

"Oh shut up!" Lucille glared and sighed deeply. "This is probably why I could never win any of those races against Sora and Riku. I'm so clumsy."

"I wouldn't say that, but...you do need to work on your eye-coordination, you acted way too rashly and jumped just when the rock was about to move again. That would have given you a huge disadvantage if we were fighting." Oswald gave constructive advice.

"I did say I was a late bloomer when it came to fighting." Lucille reminded.

"Not saying you're a bad fighter at all, but there's room for improvement." Oswald stated wisely.

"Well, that's why we're here. Even Master Matoya said that Merlin knew stuff that even she didn't know, and she was an Elder Seraph." Lucille nodded.

"Well, if Merlin doesn't know, then we're really screwed." Oswald shrugged.

Lucille breathed in and out deeply before pulling back the ragged curtain to enter inside the shack.

"Huh, for a rundown shack, it doesn't look that half bad." Oswald noted as he was impressed at how homely the place looked despite it's desperate needs for repairs.

"Ah, you've arrived. I've been expecting you my dear, along with Prince Oswald and your friends. Hmmm, well you a few minutes behind but doesn't matter." An old wizard with a friendly face and really _really_ long beard. He really did look like a wizard in the blue robes and wizard hat he wore. He held out what looked like a small bronze pocket watch.

"Oh, you were expecting us? Ah! An honour meet you, Master Merlin!" Lucille bowed respectfully, Florian also following suit.

"Oh my, now now, there's no need for that, dear girl. You're here to learn more about the Seraphim Pact, correct?"

"You knew?! Wow, your foresight is amazing! Are you a seer?" Florian asked.

"Well, you could say that, although my forte is in my wizardry knowledge, dear boy. Now then, first off before we begin," Merlin gave a swift flick of his wand over Lucille, which dried her clothes instantly from when she had fallen into the lake. "Wow! That was amazing! Can you teach me that trick?"

"Much better, we can't have you catching a cold in your wet clothes now, can we? I'm sure your brother doesn't want see you get sick either."

"You know my brother already?" Lucille asked curiously.

"Oh yes, he arrived here just as I arrived at this shack. Not the most ideal of locations, but I'd never let such a silly thing like that stop me. Hm, yes I see. You really do share a likeness to him."

"Again with the identical twin thing...?" Lucille sighed.

"Ah, so you hear that often, do you? Nevertheless, I intend to start you on your training right on schedule. I had already started giving training to your brother about his magic as well, so you should be able to catch up to him in no time if you put the effort into it." Merlin stated.

"Training?" Both Lucille, Florian and Chi questioned in union.

"Of course, you wish to learn and master your pact with the young Seraph here, yes? The wisest path to this is to first learn how to use magic, as magic is strongly connected to a Seraph's strength, just as much as the strength of vessel's heart is important to their growth. If you do not improve your magic, your Seraph partner will not grow any stronger than he is now."

"Huh...I never used magic before, I didn't know I could." Lucille blinked.

"Oh my dear child, anyone can use magic. With the right knowledge and teacher, such as myself that is, you will be casting magic in no time, how you develop your skills as a mage depends entirely on you though."

Lucille nodded with determination. "Right."

"I'm also ready to learn." Florian bravely stated.

"Very good, that was the answer I expected to hear from you two." Merlin proudly nodded. "Let's explain the details of the pact itself before we get started. As you already know, this pact allows a Seraph to intertwine their heart with yours, therefore by linking their heart to yours, they can enter our realm without the risk of their hearts being exposed, and take shelter in your heart should their need to recharge their light. I'm sure that I don't need to remind you that there are risks to the pact." Merlin pressed on.

Lucille nodded as she understood what Merlin meant. "Yes, Florian told me about it."

"To be honest, that's as far as my knowledge on the pact goes. My teacher, Lord Kuroshi couldn't tell me anymore about because Lord Yggdrasil forbid it."

"Understandable, lucky for you though, I'm free to speak my mind." Merlin chimed in. "In return, the host or vessel in question, meaning you, young lady, are given abilities that are normally impossible for a human to possess."

"I...have?"

"She does?" Both Zen and Oswald questioned.

"For example, the seraphic weapon that you use, you can invoke a unique branch of magic that usually can only used by Seraphim known as 'Seraphic Artes' using that weapon. You have probably seen the young one here used them in your encounters so far with the Heartless."

"You mean where he can change his paper into magic spells?" Lucille recalled.

"Precisely. Thanks to the pact you now share with him, you can also use those artes yourself. It requires teamwork and complete trust in each other to unlock the true potential of what you can accomplish together."

"Huh, not even I knew that." Zen crossed his arms and gave a thoughtful look.

"And that is what we will be working on, along with teaching Lucille here the basics of magic."

"Actually, Master Merlin, out of curiosity, do you think you have any books that I can use for studying and reading material, please?" Lucille asked, raising a hand.

"Aha, the studious type are you? Finally a kindred soul who can appreciate being sharp of mind and will. I believe I should have some books that you can use for studying, but for now, let us get started with your training."

Florian and Lucille looked at each other and nodded. "We're ready, Master Merlin." They both said in union.

* * *

Time passed as Lucille and Florian trained in the various challenges Merlin had set out for them, they were still practicing their magic in the attic part of Merlin's makeshift home and testing the limits of their newfound ability to merge Seraphic artes together, resulting what Merlin called a 'Union Arte', which would make the Seraphic spell in question much more powerful than when casted alone although it would drain them more of their magic faster.

Merlin was quite impressed at how fast the two picked up on the basics of black and white magic, although Lucille did have some problems with invoking Seraphic Artes at first, but she had managed it after six failed attempts.

So he left them to concentrate on their training, Merlin at returned to the ground floor to check up on Zen and Oswald, most importantly Zen, where he told Oswald the important information that he had found out on his way here.

"Interesting...So there's a gathering of people with great darkness in their hearts, who are kidnapping young girls full of light in their hearts?" Oswald asked.

"Indeed, I fear that they might have abducted some of the Princesses of Heart already."

"...But why would they do that? They're all about covering all the worlds in darkness aren't they?" Zen wondered.

"Hmmm, a good question." As they tried to puzzle out the truth, they heard someone enter Merlin's home.

"Hey Merlin, Cid asked us to bring this old book of yours to you." Sora told the wizard as he walked inside carrying a book under one arm with Donald and Goofy following behind.

"Oh, that book...So Cid asked you bring this. Thank you." Merlin thanked as he instantly recognized the book Sora was carrying. "You wish to know what kind of book it is? I don't even know myself."

"Wow, there's things even you don't know?" Oswald sounded surprised by this.

"I'm wise in many things, your highness but I'm not all-knowing god." Merlin gently scolded. "In fact it's not mine. Somehow it found its way into my bag one day. It was such a curious book, I asked Cid to repair it for me. Well, I guess I'll put it here somewhere for now. You're free to look at it anytime if you're curious about it." Merlin took the book off Sora and placed it on top of bookstand. "My best regards to Cid for repairing it for me."

"Guess we'll go check it out later." Sora placed his hands behind his head carefreely.

"Gawsh! It's good to see ya again, ya highness!" Goofy waved cheerfully.

Oswald sighed. "Yes, hello you doofus. Any luck in finding that moronic brother of mine?"

"Not yet, your highness. Have you seen any sign of him yet?" Donald answered honestly.

"No sign at all. Where in all the worlds did that mouse go?! I swear when I find him..."

"Oh, if you're here, that means my sister is here! Can you tell me where she is?" Sora beamed.

Zen pointed up at the attic. "She's up there learning how to create more chaos than she usually brings on a daily basis."

"Oh you don't mean that Zen." Oswald scoffed. "Don't you mind him, Sora. That's just Zen's way of saying she's doing fine."

The floor that lead up to the attic moved down to the lower floor with Lucille and Florian on it.

"Ah, good timing. I believe that'll be all for your training, the rest you can learn and train in your own time."

"Thank you, Master Merlin. I have a feeling that the magic you taught me is gonna help us a lot." Lucille thanked as she respectfully bowed once again.

"I feel like I've gotten stronger too because of our training." Florian added.

"Those two have worked their socks off these past three hours."

"Wow, you lasted longer than Sora did when he started learning how to use magic." Donald pointed out.

"Don't tell her that, Donald!"

"Sora?" She turned her head quickly to be greeted with the face of her younger twin. "Sora! Long time no see, I've missed you!" She cheered happily as she rushed over and hugged her brother.

"Same here! It felt like ages since we've seen each other when we were in Traverse Town. How've you been?" Sora smiled brightly.

"Sora, it's only been a couple of days." Lucille laughed. "I have so much to tell you about the worlds we've seen so far."

* * *

Sora and Lucille were busy chatting away at the worlds they had explored since they left their starting point in Traverse Town. They learned that they were strangely ending up in the same worlds as Sora and his friends at different times.

"Would be weird if we ended up bumping into each other in the same world, huh?" Sora asked.

"I wouldn't mind that. Had you any luck finding Riku or...Kairi?" Lucille asked, she knew that Kairi would be a hard one to find due they had no idea where she could be, or at least where her heart was to Lucille and Florian's knowledge.

"No, I haven't seen them at all. I'm beginning to really worry about them. I hope they're okay." Sora's smile faded at the thought of his searching for Riku and Kairi ended up in failure so far.

"I'm sure they're okay, Sora! This is Riku and Kairi we're talking about. They wouldn't let something like this stop them." Lucille tried to encourage.

"...Yeah." Sora responded, although he didn't sound too confident.

Lucille took hold of Sora's mouth and tried to make a smile out of it. "Hey, cut that out!" Sora managed to say even though it was muffled and somewhat distorted with Lucille's hands in the way.

"Frowns don't suit you at all, Sora. Is that any way to greet Kairi when you find her? Cheer up, okay. I know neither Kairi or Riku would want us to give up on them, just as they won't give up on us."

"...Yeah, you're right. This is kind of embarrassing that I have be cheered up by my sister." Sora's smile returned softly but then he pouted.

"As the elder twin, I have to keep an eye out on my little bro~" Lucille teased with a wink.

"You're only **ten** minutes older than me! How many times do we have to go through this?!" Sora argued. The twins continued into their playful bickering at each other.

"Children are so innocent." Oswald grinned while drinking a cup of tea that Merlin had made for him and Zen eariler.

"Huh?" Florian tilted his head.

"My point exactly." Oswald teased the small Seraph although it seemed it passed over Florian's head at the hint.

"Oh, looks like I forgot to give this to Cid when I visited him last with the book he had just finished repairing." Merlin picked up what looked like another gummi block piece of an unusual colour just like the ones Lucille and her friends had seen.

"I can go take it to him if you want Master Merlin. I've been meaning to explore the town anyway." Lucille offered.

"Well, I can't say I'm against it. Thank you, my dear. When you get back, I'll pick out some books for you to read to study."

"That would be fantastic, thank you, Master Merlin. I'll be back soon." Lucille thanked as she took the gummi block and started to exit.

"Sis, I'll go with you!" Sora beamed before Donald pulled back on him.

"You're here to learn more about magic!"

"Didn't ya also say you wanted to check out that book, Sora?" Goofy also noted.

"Oh yeah..."

"Don't worry, Sora. I'll be fine~ I've gotten tougher over the course of this journey so far." Lucille reassured.

"But still..." Sora was about to argue until Florian spoke up.

"I'll still go with you, Lucille. I would be worrying constantly about you." Florian ran up to her.

"You won't stay even if I say no?" Lucille pressed.

"Nope." Florian shook his head.

"Alright, guess I can't really stop you since you can just hitch a ride in my heart if you wanted to be stubborn about it."

"Yup~"

"...You're getting as bad as Sora you know that?" Lucille rolled her eyes. Chi flew over and landed on her head. "Let me guess, you won't stay either." Chi simply nodded, the brunette girl sighed in defeat.

"Well, we'll be back soon!" Lucille waved to everyone before she and Florian exited Merlin's home.

"They will be okay by themselves right?" Zen asked.

"This is Traverse Town, the worst we've seen of the Heartless are the weak ones. And she's got Florian with her, they'll both be completely fine."

"...If you say so." Zen replied, although he didn't really believe it himself even when he said it.

"Hmm...I wonder if the pact might put a strain on Lucille's body and heart..." Merlin wondered.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh no, don't mind me. Just the mumblings of an old wizard. Now then, what can I do for you, my boy?" He shook his head and turned to Sora.

* * *

So, Lucille, Florian and Chi arrived back into the third district, trying to figure out the quickest way back to the first district.

"Hmm, maybe if we go that way, we'll skip the second district? Or would it be faster to just go through the second district?" Lucille wondered. Lucille turned in the direction of the 2nd district, until she heard Chi called out.

"Lady Lucille! In front of you!" Chi warned.

She noticed that a group of Heartless had risen up and materialize in front of her. Just as she was going to summon the Lux Arma, she saw the Heartless been taken out by a familiar face. Lucille's eyes widened in realization when the person turned around.

"There you are, you were incredibly hard to find, young lady."

"Riku?" Lucille blinked and slapped herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. "Ow! Nope this is real alright." She whimpered as she rubbed her now red cheek from her own action.

"I'd certainly hope that I am. I've been looking all over for you, Sora and Kairi." Riku crossed his arms. "I see you're still as spirited as ever, that's good. I'm glad that you're okay."

"Yeah, I'm glad you're okay too. I was really worried about you y'know." Lucille smiled. Then she recalled what happened back in the cave. "Wait a minute, yeah that's right! First thing," Lucille started, she then punched Riku in the arm hard.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

"What was it for?! Did you forget what happened back in the cave?! You threw me through that door, you jerk! What were you thinking?! Didn't you care if I died from the fall or something?!"

"Wait...what door? And what are you talking about throwing you threw a door? Last thing I remember was seeing Sora on that islet, even before that my memory is a bit hazy." Riku looked genuinely confused.

It was Lucille's turn to look confused. "Wait...so you weren't in the secret cave that night?"

"I'm pretty sure I would have remembered something like that. You should know me better than that, I would never do anything to put you, Sora or Kairi in danger."

"Then...who was the one in that cave that looked **exactly** like him?" Florian looked puzzled as well.

"Who's...this, Lucille? Did you meet him in this world or something?" Riku blinked a few times before pointing to Florian.

"Wait, you can see him?"

"You can see me?!"

"Goodness, so Sir Riku has the sight too? Is everyone on your islands gifted with ability to see Seraphim?"

"Ah...no?" Lucille raised an eyebrow at Chi.

"Floating cat?"

"I am no mere cat! I'm a Chirithy!" Chi countered.

"Wait, Lucille, something's not right here. I'm pretty sure the 'Riku' we saw in the cave didn't see me at all, but this Riku does." Florian whispered to Lucille.

"Then...could it be that it was someone else wearing Riku's face? But why? Wait, you don't think it was that creepy robe guy do you?!" Lucille also whispered back.

"Hmmm...It's hard to tell. We know very little about this but I think Riku truly doesn't know about what happened at all, there's a missing piece of the puzzle here." Florian theorized.

"...Okay, you both completely lost me."

"Oh, sorry Riku. This Florian, he's a Seraph. Seraphim are basically beings of light, so in a way they're like Heartless, but way more friendlier and they don't steal hearts!" Lucille summarized in the easiest way possible.

"Nice to meet you, Riku." Florian bowed respectfully.

"And this is Chi, like she just said she's a Chirithy, she's been incredible help to us since we met her."

"Hi!" Chi waved.

"We also met two other friends who had been helping us to find you, Kairi and Sora. Oh yeah, Sora's in this world too!"

"New friends...huh? Still, Sora's here too? That's a relief, at least I know the two of you are alright." Riku frowned for a moment before disguised it behind his usual mature exterior.

"Hm? What's wrong Riku? I saw that annoyed scowl there, you can't fool me." Lucille frowned in concern.

"I wasn't scowling." Riku denied.

"Oh yes you were." Lucille countered.

"...You said this kid, Florian, is a Seraph right? Do all of you guys look...ghostly?"

"Hmmm...I think that only happens if a Seraph is walking around in this realm without a vessel, but...all Seraphim know that's dangerous. Why do you ask?" Florian answered honestly before looking to Riku for an answer.

Riku had thought about for a moment about telling them about that ghostly boy he saw in Hallow Bastion that looked halfway to becoming a Heartless, but he decided against it. "No...it's nothing. What do you mean by vessel?"

"Oh he's talking about me! Florian needs a vessel to move around in our realm because Seraphim have weaker bodies than they do in the Realm of Darkness, leading them to getting possible tainted by the darkness. So we made a Seraphim Pact." Lucille explained.

"And once again, you guys lost me. Are you saying though that he's sharing your body right now?"

"Technically I'm taking refuge in Lucille's heart, since her heart is very strong in the light, it's a safe haven for me, and it allows to protect her more effectively than I would have without a vessel like her around."

"I'm not so sure that this is a good idea. Lucille, you haven't forgotten that you have a weaker body than most people right? What if this pact does more harm than good to you?"

"Riku! I've managed just fine so far." Lucille placed her hands on her hips in defiance. "I'm not that sickly bed-ridden girl anymore. I've gotten much stronger since...the accident. So don't worry about me, okay?"

"..." Riku didn't seem at all convinced, but he knew Lucille could be incredibly stubborn and headstrong just like Sora, so he didn't try to press it further.

"Lucille? Why are you out here? I'd thought you'd be with Zen and Oswald still." A familiar voice entered.

They both turned to see who Lucille recognized right away. "Aster! What brought you here?" Lucille asked curiously.

"Ah, I told Cid about the repairs for the Ortensia, and he told me to rely the message to you guys that it's going to take a while for it to be fixed. I don't know what you guys did to it, but you weren't kidding when you said it needed repairs, it's a miracle you managed to get it back here without falling apart! Just what did you do to it?"

"Heh heh, yeah...we kinda had an accident with it." Lucille bluffed with a white lie. She felt bad for keeping it a secret from Aster, but she promised Master Matoya to not tell a soul about Memoria.

Aster gave an suspicious look that told her he didn't fully believe her but then shrugged. "Well, whatever, it's nothing Cid and I can't fixed. Hm? Oh, and who's this?"

"Oh yeah! This is one of my best friends I was telling you I was looking for. This is Riku." Lucille beamed. "Riku, this is Aster, an assistant to a mechanic friend of ours who gave us shelter when Florian and I arrived here."

"So you're the infamous friend I heard so much about from both Lucille and Sora, it's nice to meet you, Riku." Aster smiled and offered his hand out to him.

Riku however didn't look that keen to return it. "They've told you about me? Huh. Anyway, thanks for looking after Lucille."

"Riku! The least you could do is shake his hand!" Lucille scolded.

"It's okay, Lucille. He kinda reminds me of Zen a little, he's not comfortable with strangers either." Aster shook his head with an understanding tone. After all, he was best friends with an anti-social guy who acts more like a living statue himself.

"So, you're going to come with us, right Riku? There's so many things I want to tell you about the worlds we've seen so far."

"...I still have something to do. Don't worry, you'll see me again soon, okay? Just...be careful and don't exhaust yourself, and don't trust strangers so easily. You're still way too nice to other people and some people will take advantage of that kindness of yours." Riku shook his head, but then ruffled the brunette's hair.

"But...I've looked everywhere for you! And so has Sora, didn't we all promise to go explore together when we were little?"

Riku said softly, which was unlike the usual Riku. "No, I haven't forgotten. I see nothing about you has changed at all. I'm actually kinda relieved by that."

"...?" Lucille looked confused and tilted her head.

He then turned to Aster and Florian. "If anything happens to her, not even she can protect you from the pain I'll inflict on you two."

"Okay okay, I get it. You're protective and she's important to you. Y'know I have a friend who acts just like you~" Aster teased.

"Tch, don't read too much into it. It's not like that." It was almost unnoticeable, but there was a faint redness to his cheeks at Aster's hint.

"Not like what?" Lucille questioned.

"Just watch over her and don't try anything funny with her, I don't forgive people who hurt those closest to me." Riku sighed and then gave a warning shot to the young mechanic.

Aster felt a shiver go down his spine at the glare Riku gave him. With that Riku turned to look at Lucille one more time before leaving.

"Gah, honestly! And to think I was _worried_ about that jerk, there he goes, acting like an know-it-all adult again and treating me like a little kid!" Lucille cried out in frustration.

"Oh yeah, he's another Zen alright. A bit colder with his words perhaps, but I can tell he cares about you though, Lucille. You don't need to doubt that. But seriously, do I look that untrustworthy for him to think I'd do something that horrible?"

"Did he tell you that? Don't take what Riku says too seriously. He's just...very protective of his friends. He just has his own way of expressing it. He's been like that since we were little, now that I think about it, Riku has changed. When we were younger, Riku was much more open about what he thought, but now, it's like he hides things from us and I don't like that."

"I see. Well, he's not wrong though. There are cruel people out there who would take advantage of a sweet girl like you, so I can't blame him for being cautious." Aster told her.

"I'm not _that_ naïve." Lucille huffed.

"Oh of course, you're a smart cookie. However, considering I don't want to die by Riku's hands if so much as a scratch ends up on you, and I have a feeling he'd actually do it given the death glare he just gave me. I think I'll take his advice and walk with you."

"Thanks Aster, that'd be swell. Hey, maybe you can show us the sights?" Lucille looked excited at exploring the town with someone who had actually lived here long enough to know it.

"Is that okay with you, Aster? We'd appreciate your knowledge on this town." Florian asked.

"Sure, beats staying in that stuffy shop all day. Since the shortcut is out of service, we'll have to go the long way around." Aster pointed to the large door that usually lead to the first district, but it looked like it ran on electricity and that said source of that power looked broken.

"So through the 2nd District?" Lucille asked.

"Yup, that reminds me, have you guys ever heard of the 'Mystery of Gizmo Shop's bell?'

"The mystery of Gizmo Shop's Bell?" Lucille became interested with this interesting bit of knowledge.

"According to the urban legend of this town, Gizmo's Bell supposing holds secret treasure of this world. No one knows what the treasure is, but they say that it was so important that they hid it away within heart of this world."

"Inside the world's core?" Lucille looked puzzled and tilted her head upwards deep in thought.

"But how would one hide treasure inside the heart of the world itself?" Chi wondered.

"What else does this legend say?"

"Hmm, oh yeah, there's an old hint that goes with it. 'When the bell tolls three, and spring flows forth, there you will find the secret treasure of this world that you seek.' Pretty confusing huh?" Aster explained.

"Hmm...that is indeed a quite a puzzle. What does it mean by when the bell tolls three, does it mean a certain time of day?"

"Nope, I've already tried waiting around three in both afternoon and early morning and nothing happens." They then heard a loud chime and echoed across the entire town and even slightly shook the ground below them.

"Whoa!"

"Was...was that the bell just now? It's so loud!" Florian had to cover his ears since the vibrations that came from the bell made them hurt.

"Yup, that's Gizmo's bell chiming the new hour. Is it really two in the afternoon already?"

"Wait, did you say two in the afternoon? This might be our chance! Let's go see Gizmo's shop! I want to try and solve this mystery!" Lucille answered excitedly as she rushed off to the 2nd district.

"Lucille! Wait for us!" Florian followed shortly after her along with Chi, flying behind.

"Wait a minute, you don't even know how to get inside!" Aster chased after them. From the shadows, someone was watching them with great intent.

* * *

Aw yeah, chapter 9 done. Whoooo /o/

I've really gotten into a creative mood recently so I might be able to churn out a few more chapters before it takes a nosedive again. Hopefully. XD

I actually had to redo this one a few times since I wanted to try and make it feel natural and not forced in. So I hope that I managed to pull that off. ^-^

I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter and continue to read as the story continues, until next time, happy reading folks!

Moogle Empress out!

Moogle: Kupo!


	10. Episode 10: Gizmo's Treasure

**Episode 10: Gizmo's Treasure**

* * *

 _In the quiet depths of a void of white, a small spherical ball of blue light radiated with a warm glow. Within that light was a small girl, curled up in a foetal position, lost in dreams only known to her. Although she was still fast asleep, her lips moved of their own accord._

 _"Papa..."_

* * *

"Whoooaaa...So that's Gizmo's Shop?" Lucille went wide-eyed in wonderment and awe that the size of the 'shop'.

"This looks nothing like a shop." Chi noted. "I'd say this looks more...like a tower of sorts?"

"Apparently it is a clock tower, but when a man named Gizmo washed up in this world, he made up shop here, making clockwork devices that went on to make him famous in this world. He even refurbished inside the clock tower with his touch, and now it's considered one of his most elaborate clockwork designs." Aster explained the history of Gizmo's shop, just as he was told of it by the locals.

"He must have been a true genius, but how did he end up in this world?" Florian was also in awe of the sight.

"Perhaps he lost his home world to the Heartless too. All I know is that Gizmo died of old age a long time ago, all that's left of him now is this shop and his inventions."

"Oh...That's too bad. I wish I could have met him." Lucille felt deflated.

"I doubt you'd even be able to meet him, when I said he died a time ago, I mean really _long_ time ago. Talking like hundreds of years." Aster added.

"He lived that long ago? Fascinating, so they left his shop as a way to honour him?" Chi asked.

"Yup, or that's what the locals around here say. A lot of people that live in this world are those who got washed up in this world as well. It seems almost like safe haven to those who lost their homes. So the real story of Gizmo probably got lost during the years of being passed down."

"Maybe we can find clues to what Mr. Gizmo was really like if we went inside? Hey, maybe we can solve the mystery while we're at it too."

"Heh, you're really fired up on this, aren't you?" Aster chuckled.

"Yeah! Doesn't it fill you with excitement too?"

"Hmmm, well I won't lie. I had been trying to solve it myself, but like I said, I tried waiting for the right hour as it said in the old clue itself, but nothing happened." Aster admitted.

"Maybe we're thinking about it too literal?" Florian pointed out, after giving it some thought.

"What do you mean?" Lucille questioned.

"Well, when it says 'when the bell tolls three', I don't think it meant waiting for the actual hour." Florian tried to explain.

"So you're saying that it means something else?" Chi suggested. "Goodness, this is exciting! It's like we're adventurers trying to solve an ancient puzzle." Chi then became giddy with excitement.

"I know, right?" Lucille grinned toothily.

"Um, how do we get inside this building? There's no front entrance." Florian wondered, noting that there was no entrance on the ground floor of the district.

"They closed off the old entrance years ago and Gizmo's home was converted so that entrance was also closed off. You have to use that door on the next level of this area to get inside the clock tower now." Aster pointed to a side door on the upper level that lead into the large clock tower itself.

"Alright then, Team Mystery-Busters, let's go!"

"Team Mystery Busters?" Aster snickered.

"Hey, I don't see you coming with up with better names." Lucille pouted.

"Hmmm, nope I've got nothing." Aster thought for a moment before his mind came to a blank at better names.

"Sis? What are you doing here?" Lucille heard the voice of her twin brother and looked in the direction it came from to see that, Donald, Goofy, Oswald and even Zen came with him.

"And what are you doing outside the first district where it's safer?" Zen shot a look at Aster.

"Well, I could tell you, but where's the fun in that?" Aster smirked.

"Looks like you guys were planning to go inside Gizmo's shop, any particular reason? It's not a shop, not anymore anyway." Oswald piped in curiosity.

"We're trying to solve a world mystery!" Florian cheered.

"A world history?" Goofy repeated.

"Mystery!" Donald corrected Goofy's mistake.

"Oh, hyuck! Right, mystery!"

"Alright Aster, what have you been telling them? I know it was you." Zen crossed his arms in disapproval.

"Geez, who are you, my mother?" Aster sighed. "I just told them about the 'Mystery of Gizmo Shop's Bell', apparently Lucille's really into urban legends." Aster answered.

"What's the mystery about?" Sora was now interested in what the mystery was exactly.

"Oh no, don't you start getting ideas about taking part in this too." Donald warned.

"Why not?" Sora barked back.

"We're on a mission!"

"But this could be fun, besides, I can hang out with my sister if I want to!"

"He's right Donald, don't be such a stick in the mud." Oswald came to Sora's defence.

"Aw shucks, Donald. It wouldn't hurt to help solve this mystery, could be kinda fun like Sora said!" Goofy added.

"Not you too, Goofy!" Donald cried out but then sighed in defeat, knowing he can't win this argument. "Fine, we'll go."

"Apparently there's a secret treasure hidden within the core of this world or so the legend speaks. Perhaps this treasure something of great importance. Like a Lux fragment or perhaps a relic from the Age of Fairytales? Or maybe even something else? What we do know that this treasure is important to this world." Chi pointed out.

"Treasure?!" Donald suddenly seemed more eager in this venture than he was before.

"...Well, you've convinced me. Let's go solve this mystery!" Oswald's ears perked up instantly when he heard the Chirithy's words.

"Really Oswald? That's all it takes?" Zen face-palmed. "Looks like I have no choice since I'm literally outnumbered. Fine, I'll help too."

"Yaaay!" Lucille, Sora, Aster and Florian cheered.

"...Oh god I'm going to regret this aren't I?" Zen was starting to fear for his sanity.

"This is going to be awesome!" Sora cheered.

"Okay, Team Mystery Busters, to Gizmo's Shop!" Lucille pointed to the building.

"Team Mystery Busters?" Zen gave such a dead-panned look.

"That's a cool team name!" Sora approved.

"Isn't it?" Lucille beamed back.

It was like looking into another world with the brunette twins. "Aster, I swear you're trying to make me go insane." Zen glared at the auburn-haired mechanic.

"Aw, you really need to unwind yourself a little. Light up, this will be good for you and everyone else." Aster scolded.

With that, the team headed inside the building.

* * *

By the time they had arrived at the entrance, they had explained to the others what Aster had told them.

"Whoa, this Gizmo guy sounds way cooler than I thought." Sora blinked as he took in all this information.

"It's a shame that he lived all those years ago, I would have really liked to learn more from him about what kind of things he made." Lucille nodded.

"Wait till you see in the inside, it's quite...colourful." Aster winked.

When Aster opened the door and led them inside, they were created by a sight of really bright colours and beautifully painted gears, along with the most elaborate inner workings of a clock tower they had seen. Aster really wasn't joking.

"It's so bright!" Florian felt his eyes hurt a bit from the brightness of the room.

"Never thought I'd hear a Seraph say that." Zen smirked.

"Oh wow! This is amazing, look at all gears, are you sure this place is just a clock tower?" Lucille looked around with wonder.

"As far as I know it is." Aster nodded.

"I wonder why so many gears though for just a clock tower?" Sora looked closer at one of them. He then noticed a lever nearby. "Huh, what does this do?"

"Wait, don't touch it, we don't know what it-" Oswald tried to warn but Sora had already pulled it.

They felt the building shake loudly, almost causing Lucille to lose her footing, she would have fallen if Zen hadn't caught her, but with the on-going shaking, he ended up falling down as well taking Lucille with him.

Various gears and clogs moved started to alter their positions and insert into other previously untouched gears and began to turn them instead, they soon heard a loud rumbling sound from outside. The shaking eventually stopped, assuming that the worst was over.

"Wak! Sora be more careful! That could've been a trap!" Donald shouted.

"Uh, sorry about that." Sora laughed nervously.

"Y'know, island girl, the shaking has stopped, you can get off me now." Zen told the brunette girl who was currently pinning Zen the ground after falling on top of him, he was glad that his muffler that usually hid the lower half of his face also hid the small hint of redness on his cheeks from the proximity.

"Oh! Ahem, sorry about that, lost my balance." She coughed and quickly got up with an embarrassed blush.

Zen also got up and brushed himself off.

"Oh my, how chivalrous of you, Zen~" Aster teased with a cat-like grin.

"I wish I had something to throw at you right now." Zen grumbled, Aster was really going all out with the teasing today.

"I dunno what Sora just pulled but I think something moved outside." Oswald pointed back the stained-glass door.

"It sounds like it came from this side. I'll go check." Chi volunteered as she jogged off on her tiny legs back outside through another door that laid on the over side of the room.

"Just couldn't resist, huh?" Lucille playfully poked.

"Aw, you would have done it too if you found it first." Sora pouted.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Sora's right. You _would_ do the same if the roles had reversed." Zen bluntly added.

"Aw, who asked you two?" Lucille crossed her arms, although she didn't want to admit it, Zen and Sora was right.

"Guys! There's a secret ladder that wasn't there before! I think it leads up to the top of the tower!" Chi rushed back through the doors.

They followed the Chirithy another door on the other side.

* * *

"Huh, don't remember this being here last I checked." Aster looked thoughtful, there was indeed a ladder that now appeared before them, was a mechanically operated ladder that must have been built in such a way for it to only reveal itself when the right device was used to trigger it.

"Looks like that lever Sora pulled was the right one we needed to pull."

"Sooo...I did good?" Sora was confused at what that meant.

"Heh heh, yeah." Lucille smiled and patted her brother's back.

"And no one was able to figure this out before because...?" Zen questioned.

"Didn't you seen how many gadgets and gizmos are inside that place? You could literally spend days in there and still not figure it out. And trust me, I make inventions of my own in my free time as a hobby." Oswald answered.

"As I'm aware, rabbit." Zen sighed.

"So if we go up here...we'll be able to reach the bell itself?" Florian looked upwards trying to find the bell in question.

"One way to find out. Ladies first, naturally." Aster faced Lucille and gave a slight bow.

"Oh, thanks Aster, let's go Chi." Lucille blinked a few times before realizing what Aster meant. Chi clung on to Lucille's shoulder as she started to climb up, Florian followed next, the others took turns until everyone had reached the top.

"Wow, you can see the whole town from here!" Sora was taken away by the sight of it all.

"You're telling me, it's like a whole ocean of neon lights!" Lucille agreed, also taking in the view.

"Hey, look here. I think Florian may be right about what he said earlier." Aster called out, showing them the three pillars that showed three bells engraved on them.

"Three bells, I feel like there's a hint we're not getting here." Chi wondered.

"When the bell tolls three and spring comes forth...if it doesn't mean the actual time of day...what else could that mean?" Lucille wondered.

That was when Goofy, of all people, noticed something that they all seemed to have missed. "Hey fellas, did ya know that mural down there have the same three bell signs?"

"Wait, what?" Oswald blinked and near the edge and peered his eyes close enough to the mural to see that Goofy was right, there on the stone, was engraved three bells as well.

Lucille looked back and forth between the mural and then back at the three pillars, as the puzzle started to come together, Lucille and Florian seemed to have came to the same answer at once.

"The bell!"

"What?" Zen blinked in confusion.

"The hint about 'When the bell tolls three", it wasn't talking about the time of day at all." Florian shook his head.

"It's talking about the actual bell in this tower. We're suppose to ring it three times." Lucille continued.

"No way, it was that _simple_?" Aster asked in shock, and there was Aster trying to think outside the box when the answer had been so straightforward.

"I think the mural is connected to the bell in this clock tower somehow, that's why we see the same three bell signs engraved on the stone." Florian added.

"Wait, then what does 'spring flows forth' mean then? They don't actually expect us to wait till spring ring it, do they?" Zen found a flaw.

"Gotta say that mural sure is pretty, they sure remind me of the flowers that Lady Ortensia and Queen Minnie likes grow in the royal gardens, don't cha think Your Highness?" Goofy once again commented.

Oswald looked at the mural and saw the flowers were indeed the same kind that Ortensia liked to grow. "Oh I know those flowers, my Ortensia sure loves the flowers that bloom in the summer time. It's her favourite season too, maybe I should send her a summer flower from another world in my next letter?" Oswald nodded in agreement.

"Summer flowers...when spring flows forth..." Aster tried find a correlation between the two, when the answer struck him, he snapped his fingers. "I've got it! I can't believe I forgot all about it."

"You know something we don't?" Oswald turned to face Aster.

"Gizmo was considered a genius for being able to use his unique knowledge of clockwork machinery and create advanced wonders through it, but he also loved the changing of seasons, however, since Traverse Town is always night time and stays in one season all year, and if my theory is right...Sora, you want to ring the bell?" Aster turned to the Keyblade wielder.

"Me?" Sora pointed to himself. "...Sure, okay." Sora was confused but took on the challenge.

"What do you expect to happen?" Zen asked Aster.

"Just watch." Aster fixed his glasses as he replied.

Sora pulled on the rope that nearby, the large bell rung loud and clear. Everyone glanced at the mural that was in the second district, much to everyone's surprise. They saw the mural of summer flowers change to another mural entirely.

This time, the picture of the mural showed night time with flowers again, but this showed the mark of the beginning of the fall season.

"That's representing the fall season isn't it?" Lucille asked.

"Just as I thought. We're on the right track, ring it again." Aster smiled victoriously.

Seeing that the mural had indeed changed, Sora nodded and rang it again. This time the mural changed to a picture clearly depicting the winter season.

"Alright, ring it one more time. I think we'll have our answer if we solved this or not." Oswald told Sora.

Sora pulled on it and the bell tolled one last time, with a hiss of the fountain geysers coming to life, flowing water upwards, the mural changed to that of spring flowers with butterflies, dragonflies and ladybugs decorated over them.

"So that's what they meant by 'when spring flows forth', how very sneaky, yet clever." Zen finally clicked.

"You have to admit, it was a devious yet well-crafted puzzle that only the famous Gizmo of Traverse Town could have thought up, he still lives up to his legacy even after he's been dead for generations." Aster praised.

"Hey, did we solve it?" Sora turned to Lucille.

"You know Sora? I think we did! We're the greatest!" Lucille jumped.

In all the excitement, they almost didn't notice that the mural glowed a pale blue light before revealing a large keyhole where the mural stood.

"My goodness! That's the keyhole to this world's heart!" Chi exclaimed.

"Maybe that's the secret treasure? Well, Mr. Keyblade Master, time to go down there and do your stuff." Aster nodded and turned to Sora.

"Right." Sora nodded. "Let's go, Donald, Goofy!"

The two followed close behind, although Donald looked a tad disappointed if one looked close enough.

"We better follow them down there, they might need our help if any Heartless decide to pick a fight." Oswald turned to Zen, Lucille and Florian.

"True, now that the path the core of world's heart is laid open, the Heartless will take this chance to try and snatch it." Zen nodded, he could feel that his bandaged arm was pulsing with the urge to be unleashed, that was a clear sign that the Heartless were coming.

"Let's go then." Lucille nodded, bringing out the Lux Arma and hurried back down the clock tower, with the rest of them following after.

* * *

By the time they had caught up with Sora, Donald and Goofy, they were already fighting what looked giant Heartless similar to the one they had fought the first time they were in Traverse Town.

"This thing again?!" Zen was the first to confirm it.

"Something's different about this one, it seems stronger." Florian sensed that the flow of darkness inside this creature was far greater than the one they faced before.

"It may be stronger, but so are we." Lucille reminded.

To their surprise, it halted for a moment after Sora and his friends did enough damage to it.

"Wak? Did we finish it off?" Donald wondered out loud.

At that moment, the Heartless seemed to shake and then started to move parts of it's body around, the legs changed into the arms and visa versa with the arms. Even its knight-like head dropped the visor to reveal the dark being within.

"Um, I think it's far from finished." Aster summoned his lance and got ready fight alongside everyone.

"Fine, if Leon asks, this is all your idea." Zen sighed and summoned his Heartless Claw out of its prison of bandages.

Like before, they decided to split into smaller groups and take out the limbs before the main body.

Aster and Zen teamed up to take down the arms, while Sora, Donald and Goofy handled the legs, leaving Lucille and Florian with the task of keeping the main body from distracting the others.

"Florian, you remember our training?"

Florian nodded. "Merlin said to not use Union Artes unless it's absolute necessary though."

"Then seraphic artes it is. You ready?" Lucille swiped at a few weak Heartless with the Lux Arma that had snuck up in the chaos of it all.

"Yeah, leave it to me." Florian nodded. He threw out a series of shaman papers until they circled around the main body of the giant knight Heartless.

"Binding Chains!" Florian casted, bright chains of searing light clamped down on the torso of the Heartless, keeping it pinned and unable to move.

It was now Lucille's turn to put the training Merlin gave her to good use. This would be her first time using not only magic, but a seraphic arte at that, she wanted to get it right.

She focused her magic into the Lux Arma, it glowed a powerful light and magic runes began to fly around circle around the blade of her weapon as she concentrated on the incantation.

Florian did his best to maintain his spell for long as possible to stop the Heartless from breaking free from the chains.

As soon as Lucille finished the spell, she initiated summoning forth what looked like seven blades made out of pure light each one aimed directly at the Heartless. With a flick of the Lux Arma, she charged at the Heartless with blade in hand, as she was going to swipe it, she finished her spell by casting it. "Sword Dance!" With that, the seven blades charged forth, taking a turn each to swipe through the Heartless's body as if they were indeed dancing, the seven blades repeated this three times before the spell wore off.

However, it did the job of causing a lot of damage to the main body, Lucille swiped at it with the Lux Arma making the deep wound deeper.

However, Florian's hold with his signature spell, was waning, the Heartless broke out of the chains, throwing Florian backwards, thankfully caught by Lucille in mid-fall.

Just as the Heartless was about the charge at them, Zen who had finished off one of the arms, he used the pent up darkness flowing in his arm and fired off multiple volleys of dark fireballs, his attack soon followed up by Aster who made multiple slashes with his lance throwing the Heartless backwards almost near where the keyhole was.

"Sora, now, deal the final blow!" Lucille felt they had done enough to make the body weak enough for Sora's keyblade to release the heart that was imprisoned inside.

Just as the others had finally finished off the remaining of the limbs, Sora thrust the Keyblade straight through the open wound that was made in the Heartless, dealing the final blow and releasing the large heart that flew upwards into the sky.

Now no longer with the heart it imprisoned, the large heartless shook and fell apart like literal heap of empty armour before fading away.

"Whew..." Lucille sat on the ground, feeling her legs go weak, that arte took way more magic out of her than she thought, maybe she should start with something a little less magic consuming next time, like a fire or cure spell, that usually works well as a starter.

"Lucille! Are you okay?" Florian hurried over, to check on her.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I might have went a little overboard going for the big spells right away." Lucille reassured.

"You could have just started with a fire or cure spell. You need to pace yourself when using magic, if you use it all at once, you'll be at an disadvantage later when you need that magic in a tight pinch. Um, that's what Lord Kuroshi said while training me anyway." Florian literally spoke the same thoughts she had just a few moments ago.

"Heh heh, yeeeeah. I'll remember to start with the easy spells first next time." Lucille laughed sheepishly.

"Sis, are you ok-" Sora was also about to ask seeing how his sister was sitting on the ground, looking tired.

A bright light came through the keyhole, everyone had to cover their eyes as they got blinded by the light. When the light dimmed enough for Lucille to see, she saw that there was a tiny girl who looked barely eight and with flowing snow-coloured hair and wearing only a plain white dress, curled up in a ball with a blue bubble of light protecting her, the bubble lowered just before the surface of the water of the mural fountain.

With the girl's eyes still shut, she slowly unfurled herself from her ball allowing her feet to gently touch the water, bursting the bubble around her, the light around the girl faded and gravity seemed to have worked once again, as the girl fell forwards. Lucille ran up and caught the small girl in her arms.

"What was that just now?" Zen came closer to see the small girl.

"Uhh, this is probably going to sound stupid, but is she the treasure?" Sora questioned curiously.

"I...you know, I actually don't know myself. I certainly didn't see that coming, nor would I imagined this is the true form of the treasure, if it ever existed at all." Aster thoughtfully spoke out-loud.

"But what was she doing inside the keyhole?" Donald looked puzzled.

"Yo, Keyblade Master, don't forget your job." Zen pointed to the keyhole.

"Oh right!" Sora remembered and nodded quickly. Like he had done with all the keyholes they had found so far, he pointed his Keyblade towards it and shot a single beam straight into the keyhole's depths. With the sound of a lock being heard, a soft light sealed off the keyhole completely, it then reverted back to the mural of springtime the way it was meant to be seen.

"There, now the Heartless can't invade this place." Sora placed the Keyblade over his shoulder with a grin of victory.

"Good job, Sora." Lucille gave a thumbs up.

"At least that's one less world for them to devour at least. Suppose this detour wasn't such a bad idea after all." Zen crossed his arms.

"See~? And you thought it was a waste of time." Aster smirked victoriously, circling his arms around Zen.

"Leave me alone." Zen pushed off Aster.

"You're no fun at all." Aster huffed.

"I think it's a little dangerous to hang around here with the little kid still out like a light. Is there anywhere we can take her to rest up?" Oswald asked.

"There is that house over there, Leon and the others are using it a makeshift base of operations right now." Aster pointed to one of the buildings in the same district they were in.

"Right, even if no more Heartless can get in through the keyhole, there could be some still lurking around right?" Lucille nodded and gently placed the small girl on her back, similar to how Zen carried here when she had that twisted ankle back in Memoria.

"Yeah, can never be too careful around Heartless, they might have primitive instincts but they're not stupid." Oswald nodded.

"You sure you'll be able to carry her, Lucille?" Florian asked.

"Yeah, she's actually kinda lighter than I thought she would be."

"I hope she won't be too scared when she wakes up. There's something about that blue light that protected her that seems familiar." Florian looked at the small girl, for some reason he felt a sense of kinship with her, even though he had never met her until now.

"We can ponder about the girl once we've moved a safer location." Chi told Florian, who nodded in agreement with the Chirithy's words.

* * *

Once they had arrived inside the house, they found they weren't the only ones in there.

"Leon? Cid?" Aster blinked at them.

"Well, that's quite a gathering ya got there. So this is where you've went off to instead of going back the shop." Cid broke the short silence gruffly.

"Heh heh..." Aster laughed sheepishly.

"...Ya know what? I think I'm going to go outside." Oswald turned pale and slowly turned around only to be called out.

"Hell no! You ain't goin' no where till you tell what the hell happened to the god damn Ortensia, rabbit! I've known you cause bumps all the time but this is the worst I have ever seen it! What the hell did you do it?!" Cid exploded.

"...Please save me." Oswald begged Aster.

"Old man, we've been through this, they must have went through some especially rocky part of the interspace." Aster conveniently reminded.

"Tch, they must have been some damn big rocks." Cid cursed.

"Um, I don't mean to interrupt, but...can you save this for later? We're carrying a small charge here." Lucille turned to show the small girl on her back.

"...Where did you find her?" Leon raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"We'll explain in a moment, right now, she needs somewhere to rest and get checked for injuries." Aster told them.

Leon sighed. "Alright, I'll go get Aerith, she's better at healing magic than anyone I know. No doubt she's with Yuffie." Leon replied.

"Ya can lay the young'un on the bed there. Aerith freshen it up with new blankets earlier today so it hasn't been used yet." Cid motioned his head to the bed.

"Thanks Cid." Lucille thanked as she went over to settle the small girl into the bed.

* * *

A little while later, once the girl had been tucked into bed and Aerith checked her over for any injuries, only to find there wasn't any.

So knowing that, they proceeded to explain what had happened and where they found the girl.

"So this town had a keyhole as well...Not only that, the girl appeared just before you sealed the keyhole. Does that mean she's someone who was stranded between worlds and ended up washing up on this one?" Leon answered after hearing the whole story.

"I don't think that's it. There's something more to it. I know it." Florian shook his head.

"What do you mean Florian?"

"I've been meaning to ask, who's this Florian fella?" Cid questioned.

"That's a good point. I don't remember there being an extra person in your group."

"Oh I forgot, they can't see me." Florian turned a little red in embarrassment.

"Oh, you mean the sweet little boy that follows Lucille like a cute puppy? He's her Seraph partner, isn't that right?" Aerith smiled sweetly.

Lucille and Florian went wide-eyed. "You knew?!"

"Hang on here, are ya telling me there's a god honest Seraph among us?" Cid almost accidently swallowed the small toothpick that he kept chewing with his teeth.

"No way, seriously?! That's so cool! I've heard all the stories about the Seraphim, there was even this one legend where we had a Seraph Guardian watching over our world! Aw man, I wish I could see one~!" Yuffie squealed with excitement.

"Aerith, you had the sight needed to perceive them this whole time? Why didn't you say there was a Seraph with them sooner?" Leon looked confused.

"I'm sorry. You guys never asked, and it was incredibly rare for people see Seraphim so I thought if I told people, they might have thought I was crazy." Aerith apologised.

"I know how that feels." Zen sympathized.

"Oh that's right, you could see them too, right Zen?" Aerith recalled.

"Used to. I can only hear them now. That man took my sight away when he gave me this." Zen told her as he raised his bandaged arm to illustrate his point.

"I'm sorry. It was wrong for me to remind you of that." Aerith gave a sympathetic look.

"..."

"I've been meaning to ask, what happened to your arm? How did it become...uh..." Sora tried to ask, but he didn't know how to word it without potentially offending the greenette.

Lucille was quick to rescue him from the dilemma. "Ah actually Sora, it's best if you don't ask him that, he's very sensitive about it."

"Oh...Sorry." Sora apologised.

"I must say, we've been very lucky so far. It is usually almost impossible to find someone who can see Seraphim, let alone a handful like we have right now." Chi spoke.

"Donald? Goofy? Can you really not see Florian at all?" Sora turned to his friends.

"Nuh-uh." Donald shook his head.

"Nope! But if ya say he's there then I believe ya, Sora." Goofy answered.

"Maybe that's why not many people believed in the guardian of our world, hard to believe in something that you can't see." Leon wondered.

"The guardian?" Lucille questioned.

"He's talkin' about the Seraph Guardian that was meant to be protecting our world. Ya see, legend goes that our world before it was consumed by the Heartless, was protected by a Seraph who protected it from the darkness."

"They never showed up when the Heartless attacked and our world ended up being a twisted mockery." Leon clenched his fists.

"Normally the world would be swallowed up though, so why would your world still be standing, even if a twisted shadow of it."

"We don't know." Leon shook his head. "All I know is that our world ended up like that while it was meant to be protected by one of these Seraphs, so forgive me if I'm doubtful of their existence." Leon then added.

That must have tripped a nerve in Zen for some reason, because he punched the wall with his bandaged arm, causing a dent in it, getting everyone's attention.

"Hey! Mind throwin' around that arm of yours! You could have broken the wall!" Cid scolded.

"You can distrust and doubt me all you want, Leon. But I will **not** stand here and hear you insult Ion like this! You can't even begin to understand how much Ion cared for that world and the people in it!"

"Ion...? Wait, hold the phone! Did you KNOW the guardian, Zen?" Yuffie blinked and her mind clicked two pieces together.

"So, it's exactly as I thought." Oswald nodded.

"Tch!" Zen narrowed his eyes and clenched both of his hands tightly.

 _'Ion...why does that name sound so familiar to me?'_ Aster wondered to himself.

"Um...who's Ion?" Lucille whispered to Florian, she knew not to ask Zen since she could tell this was a very sensitive subject for him.

"I don't know, I've never heard his name before. It sounds like that he was the Guardian of Hallow Bastion, just like I was the Guardian of Destiny Islands." Florian whispered back.

"So that's the one you kept mentioning who also was a victim of...those experiments." Leon figured out.

"I'm going out for a bit, let me know if that kid wakes up." Zen exited the house, not looking at anyone.

"Nice going Leon. Just when he was starting to like you." Yuffie sighed.

"Why did he keep secret the fact that he knew about the guardian this whole time?" Leon questioned.

"Some things, are harder to express in words than you think." Aerith seemed to have understood why Zen had probably chosen to keep Ion close to his chest.

"I've heard about him a few times...but I never knew just how close they actually were. I didn't want to ask though because I thought it might make him more closed off." Aster added.

"You were right to do that. Whatever happened ten years ago left a very painful scar on his heart and I think Ion was the reason."

"I'm going to go and check on him. Let's go Flo." Lucille told them as she left the house along with Florian following.

"That reminds me, you ever hear of Maleficent?" Cid turned to Sora and the others.

* * *

"Zen! Where are you? Zeeeen! Good grief! And he tells me I shouldn't wander off!" Luclle huffed.

"I think I found him." Florian pointed to down to where the mural fountain was. She jumped down and saw Zen was staring at the mural where they saw the keyhole before Sora sealed it.

He was staring at it intently, lost in his own thoughts. Lucille saw this as a chance to perhaps try and cheer up Zen. She motioned her fingers to her lips for Florian to say quiet as she snuck up slowly on Zen.

When she was about to pounce and make her move though...

"Don't even think about it, Island girl. I know it's you."

Lucille felt deflated. "Aw, how did you know it was me?"

"I might have lost my sight with Seraphim but I can still sense and hear him. Let's be honest, Florian does follow you everywhere like a puppy, just as Aerith said." Zen gave a soft smirk.

"I do not!" Florian puffed his cheeks, red at the thought of being compared to a puppy.

"We came to check up on you, what Leon said was uncalled for, but you didn't tell them about your friend?" Lucille told him.

"Hmph, like I care what he thinks. My mind went to a dark place in there, so I felt the need to leave before I did something I regretted."

Lucille looked sympathetic. "It's your arm, isn't it?"

"It's getting worse, normally I would just ignore what Leon says, but when he brought up Ion like that...I...for a moment, my mind went red, all I thought about was ways to hurt Leon. Ion would never want me to do anything like that, even if he was being ridiculed in front of his face."

"You don't have to tell us if you don't want to, Zen. Was Ion very important to you?" Lucille asked quietly.

"...I suppose I do owe you an apology for acting like I did back there. Yes, you could say that. I won't go into detail how we met or what happened ten years ago, that's too personal and too soon. I can tell you a little bit about Ion though."

"I understand, I won't ask about that then. I'm more curious about Ion anyway. What was he like? He must have been a very patient person with you." Lucille nodded and then made a little light joke.

Zen gave a disapproving look but sighed. "Ion...was a kind but also lonely Seraph. In Hallow Bastion, nearly everyone didn't have the ability to see Seraphim, so even if the legend about how a guardian that protects their world watches over them is passed down, they never really believed in him. Heck, they even mocked the idea. So Ion spent a lot of his time feeling isolated and forgotten."

"I can sympathize with that. I was also very lonely since no one could see me, but then Lucille saw me." Florian admitted.

"It was the same for Ion until he found out Aster and I could see him. In truth, even though Hallow Bastion, or rather Radiant Garden as it used to be called by was my home. It wasn't at the same time."

"Are you saying you're not from Hallow Bastion?"

"Yeah, I wasn't born in that world, I washed up on it. Apparently I was found in the flower gardens or so that's what Ansem the Wise told me. So I was raised in the castle along with Aster until the day the Heartless came and covered our world in darkness."

"I'm sorry, Zen. This mustn't be easy for you to tell us."

Zen shook his head. "Consider us now even for how I acted back there. I'm still feeling bad from the time before we crashed in Memoria."

"I see. Thank you though, I feel like we're starting to see each other eye to eye a little more."

"That's all I can say on it without getting into personal territory." Zen told her.

"That's fine. I feel like I can get a rough idea of what this Ion person was like now. I can see why you must feel so close to him. You...no never mind." Lucille was about to say but then shook her head.

Zen raised an eyebrow in curiosity but decided to not press any further.

"Still, if you were five when the Heartless attacked, then how old were you when the ruler of that world found you?"

"..." Zen hesitated to answer. "I assume I was baby since I certainly don't remember it. That's probably why I got used to treating Radiant Garden as my home, it's the only world that I know, even though deep down...I knew it wasn't."

Lucille was speechless.

"Can we please stop talking about this now? It's getting uncomfortable." Zen pleaded.

"Y-yeah! Sorry about that, that was probably stepping too far. Well, since you told me so much about you. I'll tell you stuff about me!" Lucille beamed.

"...What could I possibly want with details about your childhood?" Zen rolled his eyes.

"At least _pretend_ to be interested." Lucille grumbled and puffed her cheeks out.

"...Actually, now that I think about it. This could be good, do tell." Zen gave a mischievous smile.

"Not if you're going to use it as blackmail against me later, you jerk!" Lucille growled.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." Zen softly laughed. "I promise not to use it as blackmail on you later. Is that a deal?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"What?" Zen gave a confused look.

"You...You know what? Never mind, I'm not going to touch that topic." Lucille shook her head. She didn't want to risk ruining the mood considering this was the first time Zen showed an actual positive emotion.

"I would like to know too, Lucille. Can you tell us?" Florian looked incredibly interested.

"Well...truth be told, it's nothing special. I had a pretty normal childhood, besides the fact I was bed-ridden for most of my childhood. Although...I did almost die once."

"You did?" Zen went wide-eyed at this.

"When I was seven, I almost drowned in the ocean. My body wasn't strong enough to push against currents and I just got dragged deeper and deeper into the sea. I'm not sure what happened but I think someone dragged me out of the sea and back to the shore. Everything else gets a little fuzzy after that since I went into shock."

"Lucille...I'm so sorry. If I had known you were in danger back then, I could have done something to save you." Florian went teary-eyed.

"Flo, don't be sorry." Lucille smiled softly and stroked the boy's hair. "If anything, it was my fault for being so stubborn. I just got so sick of being treated that I needed to be watched all the time, I wanted to feel like that I could stand on my own. What's worst, I got Sora and Riku into big trouble with our parents, not to mention both of them still feel guilty for letting it happen in the first place. I'm a terrible sister and friend." Lucille sighed.

"So that's why you didn't like being treated like a kid and being told what to do. I think you're being too hard on yourself though." Zen figured out.

"Zen's right! You're not a terrible person at all!" Florian passionately agreed.

"But..."

"Does Sora hate you for getting him into trouble? I highly doubt it with the way he coddles you, you didn't see him when you left Merlin's house, he kept asking if you were okay and how you were coping with me and Oswald, I thought he'd never shut up." Zen morbidly recalled how Sora kept asking questions on Lucille's health and how she was doing and of course being the protective brother, demanded to know if Zen tried anything with her, thankfully he managed to shut him up finally by throwing a book at him. He was usually a cool-headed person but even that was too much for him.

Lucille chuckled at the thought of her brother asking Zen and Oswald constantly about her wellbeing. He did have a point. Sora was never the kind of person to hold any grudge, if anything, he'd do anything for her and his friends, that was one of Sora's finest virtues. She was an idiot to think Sora actually hated her, that was impossible for someone like Sora to hate someone.

"And if Riku hated you, why did he bother threatening Aster and Florian to watch over you? Which reminds me, if I ever meet that friend of yours, I'm going to give him a **friendly** reminder to not mess with my own friends, if he thinks he can get away with threatening my best friend like that." Zen reasoned, then clenched his bandaged hand into a fist.

"Ahhh...Did Aster tell you about our encounter with Riku?" Lucille sweat dropped.

"Yes. Anyway, the point is that they clearly care about you. So don't give me that nonsense about being a terrible sister or friend." Zen crossed his arms.

Lucille smiled sweetly to the two of them. "Thanks for hearing me out, guys. I know that probably wasn't what you were expecting to hear."

"Well that certainly wasn't what I had expected, no." Zen admitted.

"Well, enough of that depressing talk. I'll tell you something better-" Lucille shook her head and started to say until they heard Aster's voice.

"Hey guys, that girl's woken up. She wants to meet you guys too." Aster waved to them.

"We'll talk about this later. Just remember, island girl. You gave your word that Florian and me would hear some details about your life on the islands, don't forget." Zen reminded.

Lucille winked. "It's a promise. Let's go meet this girl."

The trio started walking towards back to the small house, Florian looked behind him for a moment, he have sworn he felt a big aura of darkness nearby, but when he saw no one, he looked back and shrugged. "I must have imagined it." Florian followed closely behind Lucille.

* * *

"Maleficent, you made your point with Sora. But what are you trying to tell me by showing me Lucille?" Riku glared at the evil fairy. They had been secretly watching Lucille with that small Seraph boy that she made a pact with and another boy he didn't know, but...it unsettled him greatly. It was bad enough with the other guy but he was a few years older, but this one...for some reason Riku really didn't like that guy.

"Why, I know that you hold the girl especially dear, I merely wanted to show you the truth of her condition." Maleficent smiled softly but there was no warmth in it.

Riku felt his heart sink at that. "What condition?" Did Lucille contract a sickness while travelling the worlds to find him and Kairi?

"As you know, the girl currently holds a pact with a Seraph, I cannot see him but surely you know he's there, correct?"

"..."

"Seraphim are no different than the Heartless. Just as the Heartless steal hearts, Seraphim steal the light from others, although they are much more subtle and cunning about it." She weaved her evil plan into motion, playing on Riku's obvious affection, if she could make him think she was endangered, it would make Riku much more easier to be compliant with her grand plan.

"What? Lucille told me that they are beings of light, I doubt they'd stoop to that kind of level." Riku narrowed his eyes.

"Ah, Lucille believes that, but does she even know the truth herself? What if she is being lied to by the very being she has made a pact with?"

"Florian?" Riku couldn't imagine that small little Seraph being capable of such an act, especially towards Lucille who had been nothing but sweet to the small boy. And Florian certainly didn't act like someone who would pull off such a scheme, but then again...when he thought about Sora and how quick he was replace them and playing hero with that keyblade. He...didn't know anymore.

"Seraphim are attracted to strong hearts filled with light, like the Heartless are attracted to strong hearts filled with darkness. They are no different than parasites that feed off the light of others, so imagine what would happen if all the light was taken from Lucille's heart?" Maleficent asked him.

Riku didn't want to think of such a scenario.

"Ah, so you do have your doubts about the Seraph then. You would be correct in assuming so. That's when they take possession of the vessel, allowing them to wander the realm of light as they please." Maleficent continued filling Riku's head with poisonous words and lies.

"He...wouldn't do that. Would he?" Riku's voice shook.

"All Seraphim are the same in the end, although they can feel emotions, they cannot truly understand them, only by possessing a mortal body could they possibly understand the workings of the heart and the emotions that go through them. They yearn for bodies like ours yet they know the only way gain one is to steal one. Such simple creatures, aren't they?" Maleficent's lie had worked.

"Is there a way to reverse the pact?" Riku asked.

"If you come with me, I'll help you with what you are looking for, both your lost friend and a way to save Lucille from her ill-fate." Maleficent finished. Her plan had worked, now all she had to do was play along until the time was right.

Riku clenched his hands tightly, he would protect Lucille, no matter what. He didn't want to feel again what he felt that day seven years ago, where Lucille nearly drowned. The guilt and shame of letting Lucille almost die because they got careless. "Fine." He was doing this for Kairi and Lucille's sake, that's all that matters now.

* * *

"We're back~" Lucille opened the door gleefully.

"Lady Lucille! I missed you~!" Chi ran over and hugged Lucille's shoulder.

"Sis! Did you manage to find Zen?" Sora smiled at his sister's return.

"Yup, he's right there." Lucille pointed to the greenette.

"You doing okay?" Aster asked Zen.

"Yeah, feel a little better now, island girl over there has a unique way of cheering people up." Zen pointed to Lucille.

"What's that meant to mean? And when are you gonna stop calling me, Island girl? It's Lucille dang it!" Lucille spat fire.

"I see that it was effective though~" Aster teased. "Don't worry about Leon, Aerith...ah...scolded him quite harshly after you left."

"Aerith?" Zen's widened his eyes in disbelief. He looked over to Aerith who returned a warm smile and then looked over to Leon who was quiet as usual, but looked pale as if he had seen something mortifying.

"Don't underestimate the power of girls, they're really scary when you upset them." Aster warned. "I never want to see an angry Aerith again in my life."

"Um, excuse me?" A new voice called out.

Lucille turned to see it was the small girl they had found when they revealed the keyhole. She was now wide awake but she looked disoriented and scared. Couldn't really blame her. She had soft lilac-shaded eyes that screamed innocence.

"Hey there, so you've finally woken up." Lucille went over and sat on the edge of the bed with a welcoming smile.

"How do you feel?" Florian asked.

The girl nodded. "I'm feeling much better, thank you. You're a Seraph, aren't you?"

Florian froze on the spot.

"You knew Flo was a Seraph? Does that mean you can see him?" Lucille blinked.

"Well...um...the truth...is that I'm also a Seraph, so I can tell my own." The girl shyly answered.

"Huh?!"

"You're a Seraph? Wait, you couldn't be, I wouldn't be able to see you if you were." Zen was confused.

"Zen has a certain reason that makes him unable to see Seraphim but he can hear them, you see." Aster explained to her.

"Ah, perhaps I should explain then. This body...this is not my real one. Papa made it for me." The girl quietly answered as she clung to the sheets tightly.

"I...don't follow."

"It's...a little complicated, but I'll try to simplify what she told us." Aster tried to find the right words to explain.

It turned out that the girl was actually Gizmo's daughter who was reborn as a Seraph. Before their world was swallowed by darkness, Gizmo had lost his only child to a sickness that had been plaguing their world at the time. Her strong fervent wish was to remain by her father's side for as long as she could, her wish was so strong that her heart was reborn as a Seraph.

For a time, she trained and learned all the rules a Seraph should know, but she was not a born fighter like most others, she was a unique one who's only power was to nullify all forms of magic and barriers. By the time she was fully ready to take on guardianship duties, her world fell into darkness and she searched for her father everywhere.

Until she found him in Traverse Town where he made up his new shop. He became a legend to the people of Traverse Town but he wasn't happy, he still mourned for the loss of his daughter.

She knew though that all Seraphim were forbidden to reveal who they were in their past lives, especially not to the ones who are the source of their wish. In order to maintain the world order or so they say. If they did, they would be relinquished of their guardianship of that world and moved to another.

So she remained quiet and watched over her father from afar. Until she found that her father could see her even in her Seraphic form. Since she could not tell him who she really was, she told him that she was the guardian of Traverse Town.

For a time, she was truly happy and her father found joy once again, but time was a cruel mistress, Gizmo started to age and slow down like a clock that would slowly run down and stop. Before that, Gizmo used his knowledge of clockwork machinery to make a true marvel. A clockwork human-sized doll designed in the image of his daughter.

She knew that this was a way of him coping with the loss of her. It pained her to hide the fact that she was right here in front of him, but she knew she couldn't.

Since the doll itself had no heart to begin with, she didn't have to worry about pacts (which Lord Yggdrasil strictly forbid) or worry about sharing her heart with someone else. This was her body and hers alone. When she first entered it, it felt so surreal to be in a body again, artificial or no, but she felt the joy of feeling alive again.

Those days were her most sweetest with her father by her side, even if he didn't know it. Alas, all good things came to an end, nearing the end of Gizmo's life, he created a clockwork puzzle that he connected to the mural that protected the keyhole that she was guarding. They had to say their farewells as she returned to the keyhole but kept the body he made with her, to always remind her of her father by. Then she cocooned herself inside the keyhole, to create a wall that stopped a majority of the Heartless from crawling through while Gizmo activated the puzzle, sealing the keyhole away for a time until it could be sealed for good and free her from her role as Guardian.

"That's so tragic! I feel so bad for Mr. Gizmo and for you. That whole time together and he wasn't even allowed to know who you really were." Lucille was on the verge of crying.

"I think...in the end, Papa found out on his own. Or at least that's what I like to think." She softly smiled at Lucille.

"Really?" Lucille sniffed.

"Actually, I think he did find out on his own. Why else would he craft her body so well to resemble his late daughter? No one puts that much work into a creation unless they put their heart in it. I have to say, your papa was one heck of a genius and a craftsman, I would totally mistake you for a real person if I didn't know the truth." Oswald nodded.

"I feel really bad for this Gizmo guy now. Didn't think he had such a tragic life, given the way the legend speaks of him." Aster tipped his mechanic hat slightly.

"I think, he was happy in the end. That's the emotion I felt from him before I went through the keyhole but still...I wish I had the courage to tell Papa, right at the very end, but I chickened out." The girl sniffed, tears flowing from her eyes.

Lucille gently hugged the girl. "It'll be okay, you were able to give happiness to him while he was alive, by just being with him and giving him the company he craved and even he was gone, you stayed to protect this world that he helped made better for the people living here. I think he would be very proud of you and watching you even now." Lucille comforted.

The snow-haired girl didn't say anything, she just hugged back and allowed herself to cry. Despite her body being artificial, powered by clockwork, her heart was more than real and her emotions were far from fake.

* * *

"Thank you. I feel better now." The girl thanked as she dried her eyes after she had needed that moment to release her pent-up sorrow.

"So what do you plan to do now?" Sora asked.

"I...don't know. Now that Papa is no longer here, I have no reason to stay in Traverse Town, since you also sealed away the keyhole, I'm more or less free from my Guardianship."

"Will you go back to the Realm of Darkness?" Florian wondered.

The girl shook her head. "No, it's not that I don't like the other Seraphim or anything. But I like this body that Papa made for me, and I know Lord Yggdrasil won't allow me to keep it."

"Man, this Lord Yggdrasil is such a blowhard!" Sora scoffed.

Florian couldn't help but giggle at this.

"Well, how's this then? Ya wanna give Aster a hand at the Accessory store?" Cid offered.

"Huh?"

"Heh, can't abandon someone in need huh, old man?" Aster smirked.

"Ya sayin' something boy?" Cid grumbled.

"Nope." Aster answered simply before turning to the small girl. "I know that you're probably not ready to make friends or anything yet. But you're more than welcome to stay with Cid and I, also having a second helper at the store would save me dying from boredom."

"...Friends...?"

"You never had one before?" Florian blinked.

"Well, no. It's hard for one to make friends with a Seraph when nobody can see you." She blushed lightly.

"Then we'll be your friends!" Lucille cheerfully declared. "Or...if you think that's too soon that's cool, I just thought-" She then realized she might have spoke too soon and awkwardly tried to mend the bridge.

"Really? Then...is it...okay to call you and Sora friends?"

"Yeah, of course, right guys?" Sora nodded then turned to Donald and Goofy.

"Of course, hyuck! Ya never can't have enough friends."

Donald came over to the small girl. "You can't come with us, but we'll definitely come back and visit you, that's what friends do after all."

"Yup, so don't be sad anymore, okay? Even if we're far apart, our hearts will always bring us back together again. So we'll always be friends so long as we remember each other." Lucille gently stroked her head.

"I...thank you, you're all so wonderful." She smiled sweetly, somehow the world seemed a little more brighter again.

"Do you have a name, little lady?" Oswald asked.

"Papa called me Luma when I was still human so I wanted to keep that name when I became a Seraph." The girl quietly answered.

"Luma? That's such a cute name!" Lucille gave a squeal of joy.

"Nice to meet you, Luma. I'm called Florian." Florian introduced himself to his fellow kin.

"Hello, Florian." Luma smiled back.

"Alright, since the little one seems to be getting cosy with everyone, I'm gonna fix up that ship. Shouldn't be too long now, and rabbit, if you break it one more time, I'm gonna turn you into rabbit soup, ya hear me?!" Cid headed out before giving a warning to the Keyblade Master.

"Ugh, I knew being in the same room with that guy was a bad idea." Oswald groaned.

"At least he didn't tear your ears off for dusters." Zen teased.

They spend the next few hours spending time with their new friend Luma and learning a bit more about her and Luma learning more about her first friends. She would treasure this moment forever.

* * *

Everyone had returned to the first district once Cid gave them the news that their ship had been fully repaired.

"You really have to go, Sis? I'm going to miss you." Sora didn't like getting separated from his sister, but they both had different paths to follow, but they both knew that they would meet each other at the ends of both of their paths.

"Yeah, we still got to find our friends, we know Riku's okay, but I'll still worry about him until he decides to stop going lone wolf on us and Kairi's still out there." Lucille smiled sadly.

"I've been meaning to ask, where did you get all those books from?" Zen pointed to the multiple books that Lucille were carrying.

"Oh, they're books I've borrowed from Merlin. I want something to read up on while we're travelling to other worlds, besides, it's always good to study. I went to go pick up them after we left the house in 2nd District." Lucille answered.

"She's got a better work ethic than you, Sora." Donald teased.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Sora glared at the duck.

"These are all really hard books though, you sure ya can handle all of them?" Oswald noted.

"Heh heh, after reading Mom's medical books, this is nothing!" Lucille grinned.

"...You really were bored out of your mind in those years trapped in a bed, weren't you?" Zen blinked.

"Heh heh, I remember that time you accidently found Mom's secret collection of romance books~" Sora grinned at the memory.

Lucille went as red as a tomato at that. "Sora, we don't ever speak of that time!"

"Okay, now I'm curious, just what happened back then?" Zen tried to press.

"Zen! We are **so** not talking about it!" Lucille huffed.

"Was it really that bad? I don't see the harm in romance novels." Florian found himself wondering now.

"Beats me, Lord Florian." Chi was just as confused as the Seraph.

As the Sora mercilessly teased his twin sister, Luma came over to Florian.

"Say Florian, can I ask a personal question?" Luma whispered.

"What is it?" Florian whispered back.

"Was Lucille, the source of your wish? When you awakened as a Seraph?"

Florian made sure no one was paying attention then gave a small nod.

"I thought so. When I see you and Lucille, I see my Papa and I. I felt a similar bond between you two." Luma quietly replied.

"I'm much happier now than when I was a guardian. It's pretty lonely when no one knows you exist." Florian confessed.

"I won't ask how you awoken as a Seraph or who you were in the past. Please take care of Lucille, she's a precious light to this realm, I want her to keep her smile always." Luma told him.

"Of course. I've always intended to do that. I would have never grown a heart of my own, if we had never met before." Florian promised.

"Oh?"

"You know what? Forget it." Lucille gave up bickering with her brother, while the redness in her cheeks never left her. "You'll take care of Luma, right Aster?"

"Of course, I'll introduce her to Donald's nephews as well so she'll have someone similar to her age group to play with. I'm sure they'll welcome her."

"I still don't know why those three are here, but so long as they stay out of danger, I'm okay with them staying in this world for now." Donald sighed.

"First district is pretty safe from Heartless attacks, thanks to Leon and the others here, don't worry they'll be fine." Aster reassured the worried Uncle.

"Well, we better get going, those lux fragments and those friends of yours aren't gonna find themselves." Oswald told them.

"Well, we're off. See you soon guys, and Donald, Goofy, take care of my brother and make sure he doesn't do something stupid." Lucille smiled and waved.

"Don't cha worry, Lucille. Your brother is in safe hands!" Goofy saluted.

"Someone has to keep him on track." Donald rolled his eyes.

Sora glared at the duck again and sighed. "Take care, Sis. I'm counting on you guys to look after her, got it?"

"Who do you think has been babysitting her this whole time?" Zen shrugged.

"You're one to talk!" Lucille barked back.

"Don't worry, the little lady is safe with us." Oswald reassured.

"Promise you'll come back soon! I want to hear about those worlds you visit!" Luma waved to them.

"Of course, see ya soon." Lucille promised. They headed through the doors and boarded the Ortensia.

"Wow, you wouldn't have thought that it got hit by that barrier." Florian noted.

"Cid and Aster are amazing with rebuilding gummi ships." Lucille whistled.

"Well Aster is learning from the best gummi ship mechanic after all." Zen reminded as he sat down in his chair.

Lucille also sat down and lifted Chi on to her lap. "Okay Flo, into the heart you go." Lucille pointed to where her heart was.

Florian turned into a ball of light and softly entered Lucille's heart. "Heh heh, that always tickles you know."

 _"Oh so you're ticklish?"_ Florian playfully noted.

"Oh no, don't you get any ideas about tickling me in there." Lucille warned her Seraph partner.

"So, where to Oswald? You're our driver after all." Zen leaned back and questioned the rabbit.

"Since we have that new navigation gummi, I'd say we try one of the routes on it. You never know what kind of world we'll find." Oswald told them. With that, he fired up the Ortensia and they made their way out of Traverse Town's skies and into interspace once more.

* * *

 **Omake Skit 02: Zen is a bookworm too?**

* * *

Lucille was busy reading intently one of the books that Merlin allowed her to borrow for her reading and studying up on how to use magic more effectively.

She was interrupted from her reading when Florian hurried over.

"Lucille, you need to see this!" Florian whispered to her.

"Huh? What's up?"

"We've discovered a side of Zen that we haven't seen before, Lady Lucille!" Chi added.

This made her even more curious than she already was. "Okay, show me." Lucille placed a bookmark between the pages that she was currently reading before closing it to follow Chi and Florian to the small living room of their gummi ship and managed to hide behind the sofa.

There was Zen, sitting in one of the opposite chairs with a small pillar of books on the nearby table but he seemed to be holding something in hands, was that...a novel book? She couldn't tell the genre from where she was. And was he actually wearing glasses?!

"No way, Zen reads in his spare time? And he wears glasses?" Lucille blinked, she couldn't believe this was the same Zen. She always thought if he was going to be reading something, it would be an archive of some relic or a history book since he seemed to be interested in the Age of Fairytales era, but she never imagined him to be an avid of all genres reader like her. Not to mention those glasses, she had no idea that Zen needed them, why doesn't he wear them all the time?

"Could it be that Zen is a closet bookworm?" Chi wondered.

"I actually could imagine that, while he's very aloof and cool-headed about things...well...most of the time anyway, he seems to be the kind who would read a book on a whim." Florian gave an blunt opinion.

"The book part I can imagine given his personality, what I want to know about is those glasses, since when did Zen need to wear them? Does he struggle to see? Could his eyesight be failing him? Does he not wear glasses in public because he's too ashamed to?!"

Just then, the three of them could sense a presence of a dark fiery aura with glowing yellow eyes glaring at them.

"...He found us didn't he?" Lucille sighed in defeat and looked up to indeed see the greenette with his thin-framed glasses on the bridge of his nose. He looked mad.

"Why Zen? What a lovely surprise, so how are you?" Lucille smiled sweetly as a way to break the ice.

The dark aura faded way, indicating he wasn't angry anymore, but he still had a stern look on his face. "What are you doing here, island girl?"

"Um well, I was reading and...wait, is that a romantic novel?" Lucille started then her curiosity struck again when she noticed the genre of the book that Zen had in his hands.

Zen's eyes followed hers to the book and he panicked, he quickly threw it away. "It was just a passing curiosity, I wasn't at all interested in it." Zen defended in a calm tone, although there was a hint of panic in there.

"Y'know Zen, I'm a lover of all kind of books too. I'm not going to make fun of you just because you like reading romantics, it was just pretty out of nowhere since I didn't think it was your kind of thing." Lucille reassured him.

"I told you I wasn't interested in it." Zen glared.

"Sure, whatever you say." Lucille was not at all convinced by Zen's attempts. She also noticed this was the rare occasion where she saw Zen without his muffler on, so she could see the entirety of his face right now. She didn't know that he actually had a few faint freckles that decorated his nose and the upper half of his cheeks. She had no idea why he would want to hide them.

"Yeah, I like reading too, am I that much of a stiff that you thought I didn't?" Zen crossed his arms.

"No, not at all. I did note you liked reading history books, but I didn't know you were a novel person too." Lucille shook her head.

"It started with just to pass the time but I guess it just became a habit for me to read anything." Zen confessed.

"Heh, I was the same when I was little too. Speaking of which, I didn't know you wore glasses." Lucille pointed to the thin-frames.

"Aster gave them to me, I told him I had trouble reading the smaller text in some books so he made these for me to make it easier." Zen answered.

"Oh so they're reading glasses. That's a relief. I was going to say though, if you had to wear them all the time, you don't need to make yourself suffer just to make yourself look good to others." Lucille told him.

"As if I care what people think, I don't wear them because I only need them for reading. I can see perfectly fine, thank you." He scoffed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you." Lucille's smile faded.

"No, I knew what you meant by that. I wasn't offended or anything, but I'm don't intend to wear them outside of this Gummi Ship, there's no beneficial need for them in combat or anything like that. Besides, these glasses really don't suit me at all."

"You think so? You actually look pretty cool with those glasses, and it's nice to see your actual face instead half of it with that muffler on. I really don't see why you need to hide it." Lucille honestly complimented.

"..." Zen was unusually quiet.

"Zen? Is something wrong?" She innocently asked, a little concerned by the sudden silence.

"Hey, can someone give me a hand in the engine room? I'm trying to make some changes to some gummi blocks here." Oswald called out.

"Oh, coming, Oswald! Zen, enjoy reading the rest of your book." Lucille beamed before heading to the engine to help Oswald.

Zen unconsciously fixed his glasses to stop them from falling.

"Zen, why is your face going red?" Chi pointed out.

"You don't have a fever coming on do you? Lucille will be worried." Florian panicked a little.

"You two...please shut up." Zen picked up the book he threw and placed it back on the table before picking up another book and opening it, lifting the book high enough to cover his face with it.

"Oh dear, maybe we should let him read in peace." Chi told the Seraph boy.

"...Hope he really doesn't have a fever." Florian was hesitant but followed Chi out of the room and back into Lucille's bedroom to wait for her return.

Behind the book though, no one could see the growing redness on Zen's face, as he tried to concentrate on reading but couldn't. Now he wished he had his muffler on. "Stupid island girl...Stupid flying cat, stupid Seraph..." He muttered to himself as he tried to continue his reading.

* * *

 **Omake End**

* * *

Alright, that's all for this chapter, whew, I did want to add a bit more but I feel it already turned too long as it is. XD

I hope you've all enjoyed this chapter. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, alerted or read the story. I hope to continue making better chapters as the story thickens.

I would like to take this moment to reply to a few who had reviewed the story so far so I can give my thanks to them properly.

 **Ctran** : Thank you very much for all your reviews so far, I can never thank you enough for all the support you've given since chapter 1. =D Indeed, things will get interesting now Riku has arrived. Curse that Maleficent, being so evil and clever, although I think we can all agree that while Riku is a great character, he was a really big idiot in the first game, seriously who would believe an stranger over their own best friend? But that could have been the darkness starting to take effect on him, who knows? =P

Anyway, yes I also think that the twins running into each other in those worlds is going to happen regardless what path I take to go around it, so that's probably what's gonna happen. =3

 **Guest** : Thank you very much for your review. I do like your idea for the Agrabah world, I'll see if I can incorporate some of it in the next chapter, especially the palace part since we never really got to see the Sultan which I thought was kind of weird in the first game, but eh in this fan fic anything's possible. =3 I hope you continue to enjoy the story. =D

Chirithy546: Thank you so much for your review. And I'm so glad you are enjoying the story and the characters, I hope you continue to enjoy the story in future chapters to come.

 **Yua-Hime** : Thank you so much for your review. I'm really touched that you think that highly of my story. *sniff* I'll do my best to be worthy of that praise. ^-^

I try to keep Lucille as balanced as possible while making her own unique person so she doesn't end up as a copy-paste of Sora. Same goes for the other characters. So it makes me really happy to know that I haven't messed up since I always worry if I went too far or not. ^-^

And thank you for your constructive advice, I do find it hard to find the right words to describe things sometimes so it sometimes comes off as stiff. I'll try to take your advice to heart. ^-^

 **Mysterygirl145** : Thank you very much for your reviews so far! And I've always wanted to add Oswald into the series since I felt he needed to be here somehow. XD So this fan fic is a great way give him an important role and act as the sage of the group like how Goofy is apparently more observant and the smarter one than Sora and Donald. XD

I hope all of you continue to enjoy the story and thanks for all your support so far. It's little things like this that makes writing the story worth it. Especially if it's being enjoyed by others. Same goes for all those who had favorited and alerted the story so far, thank you all so much!

Anyway, it's off to the next chapter! Until next time, happy reading folks! Moogle Empress out!

Moogle: Kupo!


	11. Episode 11: Agrabah

Hello there everyone, Moogle Empress here with the next chapter ready to roll. Before that, I would like to go over the reviews from last chapter. ^-^

 **Ctran:** Thank you for your review! That's true, Kingdom Hearts can be very Star Wars like, especially in Birth By Sleep if you compare a lot of things with that one. XD I hope you continue to enjoy the story. :3

 **Chirithy564:** Thank you for your review! I'm really glad that you are enjoying the story, that makes writing it worth it. :3 Also happy that you are also enjoying the omake skits, they won't be in every chapter, but I like to add them when they seem appropriate. I do intend to do some side stories that go over some character background for some people, but I don't know I want to add them as part of the main story or just make a separate section for them. ^-^

Also about your request to make fan art for the characters, by all means Chirithy, I would be humbled, honoured and delighted for you to create fan art if that is what you wish. ^-^ Let the imagination flow! \o/ I will make sure to give you full credit. =D

Thank you again for reading and I hope you continue to enjoy the story as it continues. ^-^

 **Guest:** :3 You'll have to wait to find out, it'll be revealed in due time. =D

With that, here's the next chapter, enjoy! ^-^

* * *

 **Episode 11: Agrabah**

* * *

In the city of Agrabah, Jafar and Maleficent were walking down one of the many streets of the city, having a private talk as they walked.

"And the Keyhole?"

"The Heartless are searching for it now, I'm certain we'll find it soon enough. So...that just leaves..." Jafar reassured the evil fairy but then heard the call of his parrot, as Iago flew down and perched on the evil vizier's shoulder.

"Jafar! I've looked everywhere for Jasmine. She's disappeared like magic!" Iago reported.

"Hmph, the girl's more trouble than she's worth."

"You said you had things under control." Maleficent narrowed her eyes dangerously and took a few steps forward.

"Agrabah's full of holes for rats to hide in." Jafar sneered. "But why worry about Princess Jasmine? With her or without her, surely this world will be ours when we find the keyhole." Jafar then questioned.

"We need all seven princesses of heart to open the final door. Any fewer is useless." She said cryptically. The final door that rested within the depths of Hallow Bastion, it was protected by a powerful seal that not even the most powerful of magic could unseal. Apparently it was the final act of some annoying Seraph who was the guardian of that world before it came under her control.

That was when she heard of how the Seven Princesses of Hearts could overpower even that of Seraphic Artes, which were considered impossible to undo by normal means.

"Well, if the Princess is that important, we'll find her." Without looking back, he ordered the nearby Heartless that beckoned to his call. "Find Jasmine, and bring her to me at once." He then ordered what appeared to be Arabian knight-like Heartless that obeyed his wish and went forth to search for the Princess of this world.

"Don't steep yourself in the darkness too long. The Heartless consume the careless." Maleficent warned.

That was when Jafar laughed without even looking at the evil fairy. "Your concern is touching, but hardly necessary." He simply scoffed as he continued onwards in his search.

Little did they know that behind a stall not far from them, hid the Princess herself, concerned and worried with whatever evil scheme they had planned. She truly hoped Aladdin was alright and prayed for her father's safety.

* * *

Lucille and her friends found themselves strangely in a exotic palace.

"How did we end in the middle of a palace?" Zen asked Oswald.

"Not sure, that never happened before, maybe Cid did a bit of weird tweaking with the teleporter when entered this world.

"Is it just me, or does this palace seem...empty?" Chi questioned.

"Actually the Chirithy's got a point, this is too quiet." Zen looked around carefully.

Florian sensed something below, was it...someone's heart? "Guys, I think there's someone imprisoned down below, I'm sensing someone in distress." Florian pointed to the ground.

"Well, we are in the palace... there must be a dungeon below us." Oswald carefully thought out.

"Well what are we waiting for then? We need to help that person!" Lucille started to run ahead but then stopped. "Ahhh, Flo? Which way is it to the dungeons?" She then laughed sheepishly as she asked. The rest of the group just sighed.

* * *

Following Florian's guidance, they found themselves in the lower floor of the palace where the dungeons were kept.

"Charming place." Zen commented as they passed by a cell.

"You sure there's someone here, Flo? I can't see anyone in these cells." Oswald checked the other cells but found nothing.

"I couldn't be mistaken...I could have sworn..." Florian grew more concerned if he had been mistaken. That was when they heard a voice.

"Hello? Is someone there?"

"There is someone!" Lucille smiled and ran in the direction of the voice only to be stopped when a group of Arabian-knight Heartless spawned from the ground.

"Heartless!" Lucille gasped. She quickly took out the Lux Arma and armed herself ready, followed by Zen, Oswald and Florian.

It didn't take too long for them to wipe the floor with all the Heartless in the room. "Heh, never stood a chance." Zen boasted.

"They were pretty weak ones, don't get too cocky, kid." Oswald warned.

"I know, I know." Zen replied as he reverted his claw back into his bandaged arm.

Once dismissing their weapons, they approached the cell where they heard the voice coming from. It was a elderly man who looked like he was the one who was suppose to be ruling this kingdom.

"Who are you?" The old man asked.

"I'm Lucille and these are my-"

"We'll worry about introductions later, stand back." Oswald gently pushed Lucille away from the door so he could use the keyblade on the lock.

Once the door was open, the old man didn't wait to leave the cell. "Thank you for getting me out of that rotten cell. When I get my hands on that no good vizier, Jafar I'll-!"

"Vizier? So are you the ruler?" Zen asked.

"Ah, how rude of me. I am the Sultan of Agrabah, I can't thank you enough for breaking me out there. I thought I was going to be trapped there forever." The Sultan thanked the group.

"Well, it was technically Florian who located you, we'd never have been able to find you if it wasn't for him." Lucille smiled.

"Oh, I must thank him then. Um, where is the lad?" The Sultan looked around but couldn't seem to locate him.

"I don't think he can see me Lucille." Florian whispered.

"Oh...Uhhh, this little fella!" Lucille quickly improvised by picking up Chi.

"Lady Lucille!" Chi panicked.

"Oh, why thank you little one." The Sultan smiled and petted her.

"Sorry Flo." Lucille apologised.

Florian shook his head and smiled. "It's okay, Lucille. We were bound to end up meeting people who can't see me."

 _'Note to self, make sure to double check if people can see Florian next time.'_ Lucille mentally noted to herself.

"I must ask though, how did you get inside the palace? Jafar made sure to keep all my guards and royal staff out of the palace when he deposed me."

"Ummm...We snuck in?" Lucille bluffed.

"Well that's not too far from the truth." Zen shrugged.

"It's as good excuse as any, no matter what, we can't tell him about being outsiders to this world." Oswald warned the both of them in whispers.

"Either way, I am deeply thankful. Ooh, that no good wizard! And to think I trusted him, I was such an old fool! And now my poor daughter, my poor Jasmine...She's being hunted by that snake!"

"Jasmine? So she's your daughter?" Oswald perked his ears at this.

"Yes, I'm incredibly worried for her. When I was forced into the dungeons, I told Jasmine to flee the palace, I certainly hope she's found somewhere safe to hide from that horrible man." The Sultan explained.

"We'll go look for her then." Oswald was the first to answer.

"We will?" Zen raised an eyebrow at Oswald's unusual response.

"Will you? It would mean the world for me if you could help my Jasmine."

"Of course. Can you give us a place to start looking?" Lucille agreed.

"Well...Agrabah is a very big place, so I'd imagine she'd be hiding within the city still." The Sultan told them.

"Alright then, that's where we'll start. What about you though? Will you be okay?" Lucille asked in concern for the elderly man.

"Oh you've done enough for me, already. I shall open the palace gates so my guards can return to their posts at once, then we can start bringing back peace and order to this city. Please help my daughter if you find her."

"We'll keep her safe from Jafar, Your Majesty." Lucille nodded.

"We better get a move on, who knows how long this search is going to take." Oswald motioned them to move along. After escorting the Sultan back up to the main floor of the palace and reopening the palace doors, they left the ruler of Agrabah in the care of his royal guards, who also thanked them for saving and protecting their Lord and started their search.

* * *

"So Oswald? Why did you so readily agree to this? I thought you'd be the first person to decline." Zen asked, quite curious about the rabbit's unusual attitude.

"Do you remember that talk we had about the Seven Princesses of Heart?" Oswald asked the rest of the group.

"Oh yeah! Back in Wonderland right?" Lucille recalled.

Oswald nodded. "I have a hunch that the Sultan's daughter is one of the seven." Oswald told them.

"Really?!" Florian jumped up in surprise.

"You sure about this?" Zen pressed for information.

"Never underestimate the hunch of a lucky rabbit, kiddo." Oswald gave a cocky grin and wag his finger at him.

"I believe Master Oswald is correct, I'm sensing a powerful light here. Far stronger than the ones we had before." Chi agreed with the rabbit on this.

"So, where would even start searching? This place looks so easy to get lost in." Zen wondered.

"Guess we could trust good ol' luck?" Lucille smiled.

"Can't you find her Florian? You already were able to find the Sultan." Oswald turned to the small Seraph.

"No, there's too many hearts in one place." Florian shook his head sadly.

"Don't worry Florian. There's limits even for you guys, right?" Lucille petted Florian's head.

"I guess we'll just have to do this the ol' fashion way." Oswald shrugged.

"I'm sure we'll find her and we'll keep her away from that mean ol' snake guy, what did the Sultan call him again?"

"Well well, what have we here? It's the Keyblade Brat's sister and her merry band of street rats." An evil yet smooth voice made them alert and armed themselves immediately when they turned around.

"Jafar I assume?" Zen narrowed his eyes.

"Indeed I am, what of it?" Jafar scoffed.

"We heard everything from the Sultan, you ain't getting anywhere near the Princess, snake man." Oswald called him out.

"Hahahaha! Oh, but you're already too late. I know where she is." Jafar smiled evilly.

"Huh?! Not if we stop you first!" Lucille gripped the Lux Arma tighter and charged at him.

"What are you doing?!" Zen tried to stop her but it was too late.

"Haaaah! Eat this!" She made an attempt to strike but Jafar grabbed hold of her by one of her arms. The Lux Arma was accidently dismissed when Jafar's grip tightened on her hand that held it, which caused it to fall out.

"Hey! Let me go, you creepy snake of a man!" Lucille struggled to break free, even trying to kick him.

"I believe you'll make excellent bait for the Keyblade brat. You'll find her in the Cave of Wonders, but you might want to hurry, she might be dead by the time you get there. You lot, take care of these street rats." Jafar ordered the Heartless nearby to attack.

Florian not wasting any time, turned into a ball of light and entered Lucille's heart so Chi would be able to track them down wherever this Cave of Wonders might be.

"No! Let me go! I won't let you use me to lure my brother and friends into a trap!" Lucille struggled even harder to pull away.

"Say goodnight, little street mouse, can't have you running off now, can we?" Jafar mocked before casting a sleep spell on her. She could feel the effects of the spell starting to effect but she tried to keep herself awake, even biting into her lip and making it bleed.

"Lucille! Damn it, outta the way!" Zen took care of any Heartless that tried to attack while trying to reach them before Jafar could get away.

"Lady Lucille! Unhand her at once, you foul creature!" Chi charged right in but got swatted away by Jafar's hand, throwing her right into one of the buildings.

"Chi...No...I can't...stay...awake." Lucille felt weaker as she struggled to keep her eyes open, eventually the spell won over and her world went dark.

* * *

Meanwhile, a little later on, elsewhere in Agrabah, Sora and his friends had teamed up with Aladdin, Carpet, Abu and Genie to save Princess Jasmine, unfortunately, Jafar had used Iago to steal the lamp from Aladdin's hands, thus leading them up to this unfortunate turn of events.

"Oh yes, that reminds before I go, I believe this belongs to someone precious to you, am I right boy?" Jafar took out Lucille's necklace that he took off her as proof that he had the Keybade Brat's sister in his possession, then threw at him.

Sora went closer to pick it up. "This is...what did you do to my sister?!" Sora shouted.

"Oh I assure you, she's safe, for now." Jafar cruelly replied. "It all depends on if you can find her in time before the Cave of Wonders prematurely ends her life. And now I bid you all farewell. Attack!" Jafar added finally before disappearing in a puff of red smoke.

Despite Sora and his friends' best efforts, they were unable to save Jasmine, who had also been stolen away by Jafar.

"To the desert! C'mon let's move!" Aladdin told the others.

"Sora..." Donald didn't know what to say, he wanted to reassure Sora about Lucille's safety.

"Hey, about what Jafar said, is it true that he kidnapped someone important to you?" Aladdin asked, concerned for his friend.

"How...? How did he get hold of Lucille?" Sora clutched Lucille's necklace tighter.

"Lucille is Sora's twin sister." Goofy explained to Aladdin.

"Don't worry, Sora. We'll save your sister and Jasmine together, Jafar is not getting away with this." Aladdin placed a comforting hand on Sora's shoulder.

"Yeah! Jafar's gonna pay if he lays a finger on her!" Donald also stated strongly.

"Dont'cha worry, ya know Lucille will be alright! I bet her friends are already on their way to save her right now."

"Guys...yeah, you're right. Lucille's much stronger than that, Lucille told me that, and she's a terrible liar, there's no way she could bluff it. Thanks." Sora thanked them for giving him support when he needed it. He trusted his sister more than anyone, she wouldn't dare die on him.

With that, they headed towards the entrance of the Desert, to their surprise, find Oswald, Zen and Chi who looked almost ready to try braving the desert themselves.

"Guys!" Sora called out.

"Sora? Oh boy, I never thought I'd be glad to see you guys more than I am right now. It's Lucille!" Oswald was about to explain before Sora stopped him.

"Yeah, Jafar left this for me." Sora showed them Lucille's necklace.

"What the heck happened?!" Donald cried out glaring more at Zen than Oswald.

"Lucille got careless, she tried to attack Jafar and he got the upper hand, but I should have warned her faster. I underestimated him, he's no pushover." Oswald sighed, angry at himself for letting this happen.

"And then he launched a swarm of Heartless on us, by the time we were able to clear our way through, he was already gone taking Lucille with him." Zen gritted his teeth, he was more angry at himself then Oswald, why didn't he react faster? He should have known Lucille would pull a crazy stunt like that.

"I'm not angry at you two or anything." Sora reassured them. "I trust my sister, she'll be okay. I know it."

"Yeah, this is Lucille we're talking about, she's tougher than she looks." Oswald nodded with a grin.

"Fear not, Sir Sora, Lord Florian is with her even as we speak. He will protect Lady Lucille. I feel so ashamed as her self-appointed guardian, I couldn't help her before, but I shall use my sixth sense to track Florian's presence to help her now." Chi told him.

Sora bent down and petted the small cat with the weird cape. "Thanks."

"Then in that case, please lead the way little guy." Aladdin nodded.

"Who's this?" Zen pointed at the local.

"Oh, this is Aladdin, we'll explain on the way to this Cave of Wonders." Sora introduced them.

"Right, first, saving Lucille." Zen nodded. They all somehow managed to board the carpet and using Chi's guidance, the carpet directed them straight to where the cave would be.

* * *

When Lucille opened her eyes, she found herself in a strange place, it was like a void of nothing but she was clearly resting on something, looking down, she noticed that it was the exact same place from her dreams, and the same stain-glass pillar from before, the picture painted below showed her island, along with her brother, Kairi and Riku, but this time, she saw Zen, Oswald, Chi and Florian was also there.

"Why am I back here? Why does this place feel more real than it did before in my dreams?" Lucille looked around in confusion. She saw another stain-glass pillar on the other side with a bridge of stained-glass steps connecting them. She walked across the bridge to take a closer look at the second pillar. The second stain-glass pillar showed simply a Paopu flower as the picture below it.

"Could this be...Florian's heart?" Lucille guessed, she knew that he loved Paopu flowers just like she did. Or was there a deeper secret meaning to this?

 _"Do you remember yet?"_ A gentle and kind voice called out to her.

"Huh? Hey, who's that?" Lucille looked around, alert as a fox, scanning the area until she found there was someone there with her. She looked a few years older than her but they seemed to have the same kind of body build as each other. But her face was covered with a fox mask for some reason. She despite not being able to see the person's true face, she radiated with a gentle yet strong light and had a kind and warm aura surrounding her.

"Um...who are you?"

The young girl shook her head. _"It's time to wake up, Lucille. He's calling for you. Don't worry though, we'll meet again soon, I promise. We're connected after all, you and I."_

"Huh?"

"-ucille! Lucille!" Florian's voice started to echo in the strange void, when Lucille looked back, she saw the girl with the fox mask was gone. Then everything went white as she was torn away from that bizarre place.

* * *

Lucille's eyes fluttered open, her body felt like lead but she managed to slowly pull herself up into a sitting position.

"Lucille! I'm so glad! I kept calling and calling when that mean vizier threw you in here, I was beginning to worry that spell would never wear off!" Florian sniffed, trying to dry the unshed tears that threatened to fall.

"Flo? What...happened?" Lucille asked, still feeling dazed and confused.

"Don't you remember that Jafar casted a sleep spell on you?" Florian tried to jumpstart her memory.

"Hmm..." Lucille gave it a moment for her head to catch up with her memory, then everything came back to her in a flash. "That's right he did! Argh! That no good snake! I can't believe I let that happened. I'm such a idiot." Lucille face palmed at her own stupidity.

"Lucille, it wasn't your fault." Florian tried to cheer her up.

"No, it was my fault! I put everyone in danger because I acted reckless!" Lucille cried in frustration. "I'm sorry Flo, I didn't mean to shout." Lucille clasped her hand over her mouth.

Florian shook his head and smiled softly. "Not everyone is perfect, we all make mistakes. Even Seraphim can make mistakes." He told her. He even healed up the cut on her lip that she made when she tried to fight against the sleep spell.

Lucille felt like crying. Florian was simply too good of a person for her. She hugged him. "I don't deserve you as a partner, you know that?"

"I don't believe that at all. You need to give yourself more credit you know." Florian shook his head and hugged back. "I'm really happy that you're alright, that's most important to me."

They released their hold and decided it was time to reunite with the others. "Where did that snake throw us in anyway?" Lucille looked around what looked like a strange ruin of some sort and there was sand falling from the ceiling, when she looked down there was a pit of lava below. "WHOA! Are we in a freaking volcano or something?!" She jumped back, making sure not to go anywhere near the edge.

"I think he said this place was the Cave of Wonders." Florian recalled.

"Cave of Wonders...doesn't seem so wondrous to me." Lucille puffed her cheeks, she was so disappointed despite the fanciful name.

"Heh heh, I see you're back to your old self." Florian giggled.

Lucille smiled. "Being depressed is not my style, that's more Zen's thing. Ugh, speaking of Zen, I'm so going to get it from him when we get back." She was already dreading the lecture she'd get.

"Actually, Zen looked really worried when he saw Jafar take you away." Florian blinked and noted.

"...We're talking about the same moody Zen right?" Lucille blinked back.

"Yup." Florian nodded.

"...Damn it, why did I have to go unconscious at the wrong moment? I wanted to see that." Lucille sighed.

"Let's try to get back to the others, then you can ask Zen yourself." Florian innocently told her.

"Hahahaha...Yeah no that's never gonna happen." Lucille laughed nervously. That was when she noticed that her necklace was missing. "What happened to my necklace?!"

"Jafar took it. He said he was going to use it as an incentive to lure Sora into a trap." Florian reminded.

Lucille gasped. "You're right! Oh Sora...We have to go find him, before Jafar does!"

Florian nodded in agreement. "Yeah, let's go." With that, the two ran off to try and find a way to escape this cave.

* * *

"That boy again?" Maleficent turned to face Jafar with a look of surprise.

"He's more persistent than I expected, I had thought for sure the traps of this cave would have finished him off. I have captured his sister though. It's clear that she can be used as a useful tool to weaken the boy. Why not explain the situation to that boy, Riku? Doing so may prove useful to our-" Jafar started to propose his idea until he was stopped mid-way as he heard people storming right in the room.

"Wait a second. Are you Maleficent?" Sora looked at the evil looking fairy and asked.

"So that's Maleficent, the one who helped destroyed..." Zen narrowed his eyes at her and clenched his fist that hid his heartless claw tightly.

She simply said nothing and instead teleported away.

"Jafar, let Jasmine go!" Aladdin shouted.

"Not a chance. You see, she's a princess-one of seven who somehow hold the key to opening the door." Jafar cryptically told them.

"Open...?" Goofy repeated the first word.

"...the door?" While Donald finished the last two.

"But you fools won't see to live to see what lies beyond it."

"Where's my sister? If you did anything to her I'll-!" Sora gritted his teeth and demanded.

"Oh hush will you? The girl is perfectly fine. Maleficent apparently has taken an interest in her for some odd reason, what she could want with such a loud and rebellious street rat, I'll never know." Jafar scoffed.

"What? Why would she want Lucille? She's no princess! She's way too anti-princess to be one." Zen questioned out loud.

"Well, nice see you again too, you jerk!" A familiar voice they all know entered the room from a secret passage that she just climbed out off along with Florian.

"Sis!" Sora never felt so relieved in his life to see his sister's face.

"Sora! I'm so glad we made it. And you Jafar, you are **so** going down, cast a sleep spell on me, will you?" Lucille was glad Sora was still in one piece and then glared at Jafar.

"What? But how?! That sleep spell was suppose to keep you deep in slumber for a while longer!"

"Let's just say, I have a trusty alarm clock." Lucille winked at Florian, who smiled back.

"Lady Lucccciiilleee!" Chi flew over like a bolt of lighting and hugged her arm. "I'm so glad you're alright, he didn't do anything horrible to you, did he?" Chi sniffed.

"I'm okay, Chi. I remember the way who tried to get Jafar to let me go, thank you." Lucille warmly thanked the small dream eater, as she remembered Chi tried to get Jafar to let go of her, only to swat her away.

Jafar raised his hand holding the lamp upwards. "Genie! My second wish! Crush them!"

"Genie, no!"

"Sorry Al. The one with the lamps calls the shots, I don't have a choice." Genie lamented his position.

"Then we'll just have to snag it back!" Lucille smiled confidently.

"Leave it to me, Lady Lucille. I'm small enough to evade his eye." Chi whispered to her.

Lucille nodded. "Alright, we'll play decoy." Lucille and Florian headed over to where Sora and the others were and summoned her Lux Arma back while Florian armed himself with his shaman paper.

Jafar raised his staff for a moment to seal off access to the keyhole and their escape route.

"I'll apologise later for what happened later, right now, let's teach this snake a lesson!" Lucille turned to Zen and Oswald.

"Sounds good to me. You owe us for making us chase after you like that, idiot." Zen barked.

"Yeah, I know." Lucille's face became serious as they faced down Jafar, their most fearsome enemy yet.

While everyone was busy distracting Jafar with their spells and attacks and avoiding a very reluctant Genie, Chi stealthily made her way closer to the lamp, but just before she could get it, Jafar came over and swatted the dream eater harshly again. "Filthy little rat!"

"Eeeek!" Chi cried out but this time Lucille managed to catch her. "Oh thank you, Lady Lucille!"

"Man, we were so close too."

Jafar grabbed hold it the lamp and flew into the centre of the room, to the group moved away to one side in case he was planning something big. "Genie! My final wish! I want you to make me an all powerful Genie!" It would seem reason seemed lost on the evil wizard now.

"Did we bonk him on the head too many times?" Oswald asked.

Genie had no choice but to grant his wish, he looked away as he granted the wish of the mad wizard before him.

The centre of the ground crumble before them, Jafar descending into the same floor that once held Lucille captive till she found a way out, then they saw how Jafar transformed in to a giant red and more evil looking version of the blue Genie.

"Ah...I think we're in trouble. Does anyone know an genie-begone spell?" Lucille took a step back.

"Wait...Didn't Genie say that all Genies were prisoners of their lamps?" Sora struck an idea.

"...What good does that do us? Oh wait a minute, that's it!" Zen looked confused but then it dawned on him.

"That's right! He became a Genie, so that means he must have a lamp of his own." Aladdin nodded.

"Hey, that's Princess Jasmine isn't it? The Sultan's daughter?" Lucille pointed to the blue garbed princess.

"You freed her father?" Aladdin looked shocked at this revelation.

"Oh yeah, we forget to mention that. The Sultan asked us to go find her since he was really worried for her daughter's safety, Lucille's right, we can't leave her unguarded." Oswald briefed them.

"Worry not. I shall watch over her." Chi volunteered.

"Okay Chi. Don't worry, we'll be back before you know it." Lucille nodded at the Chirithy.

"Oh yeah, that's right, I believe this belongs to you." Sora remembered and handed back Lucille's necklace.

"Thanks for holding on to it, Sora." Lucille thanked and placed it back over her neck where it belonged.

"It wouldn't feel right without both of us wearing the necklaces Dad made for us, right?" Sora grinned his goofy smile.

"Heh heh, you can say that again."

They all jumped down to the lower level to combat Jafar in his Genie form now. They saw Iago pass by holding a black lamp in his clutches.

"There it is, we'll distract it, Sora, you go get that lamp from Iago." Aladdin told him.

"You got it." Sora understood and started to chase after the red parrot.

"Alright then, let's go Jafar! It's payback time!" Lucille aimed the Lux Arma at him before casting a blizzard spell at him. "Deep freeze!"

Jafar started throwing molten lava boulders at them, but Oswald manages to keep throwing them back with his Keyblade, striking Jafar himself at times. "Heh, hole in one." Oswald smirked.

At other times, Zen catches them and throws them back in the lava pit with his Heartless Claw, it turns out that claw also gave him superhuman strength.

After a while of ping-pong with Jafar, Sora finally managed smack down the parrot with his Keyblade and grab the lamp off him.

"Okay Jafar, back to your lamp!" Sora raised the lamp high enough for it to suck in Jafar.

Jafar wailed and tried to break away, but there was no escape from the black lamp's clutches.

"Alright, Sora!" Lucille cheered.

* * *

Meanwhile Jasmine was looking down intently for any signs of Aladdin and his friends, while Chi watched over her diligently.

"Don't you worry Princess, Jafar's got nothing on Lady Lucille and her brother." She puffed with pride.

"I'm thankful that you came all this way, even if it was just to save your friend." Jasmine smiled kindly.

"In truth, Princess. We were also trying to save you from the clutches of Jafar, so it was win-win for us!" Chi cheered.

"Hahaha, I see." Jasmine laughed and continued to look down for Aladdin.

"It'll be all okay, you'll-mphh! Heff! Unmanf mf!" Chi was about to say until she felt a sack being thrown over her and her voice was muffled as she was tied up in it, then thrown to one side. The only thing she heard was Jasmine's gasp and then nothing, Chi struggled to break free to find out what had happened, and who it was that stuffed her in the bag.

When the gang had finally returned to the upper room, Sora went ahead to seal the keyhole, but that was when he saw nearby that there was a bag moving frantically.

"Huh? What the?" Lucille came over and untied the sack, only to be pounced on by Chi. "Oh it's you Lady Lucille, thank you for freeing me from that sack!"

"Jasmine? Jasmine!" Aladdin called out for the Princess when there was no sign of her.

"Chi, what happened to Princess Jasmine?" Lucille asked.

"Someone snuck up and stuffed me in that sack! They must have taken the Princess while I was tied up! Waaahhh! I'm so sorry Lady Lucille, I'm such a failure, I can't do anything right!" Chi cried.

Lucille gentlly stroked the poor little dream eater, it wasn't Chi's fault, but she was obviously guilt-ridden over it.

"Sora, try sealing the keyhole, maybe we can put this cave down for good." Oswald told Sora.

"Ah...right. But what about Princess Jasmine?"

Oswald sighed sadly. "If they had taken the Princess off this world by now, there's nothing we can do."

Sora felt a little deflated by that but proceeded to seal the keyhole so that no Heartless could invade it again. With the sound of a lock, the keyhole disappeared from sight in a wave of magic.

The whole cave began to shake crazy, that keyhole must have meant this place would be sealed away too.

"Whoa! We better get outta here!" Goofy warned the group. They all jumped on Carpet while holding a distressed Aladdin, still calling out for Jasmine.

While having to avoid falling rocks and geysers of lava spewing at them, they somehow managed dodge most of them, they managed to escape the mouth of the cave with all their passengers intact and flew off back to Agrabah. Although they were able to get Lucille back, they were unable to protect Jasmine, which left a bitter taste in all their mouths.

* * *

While Sora, Donald and Goofy went back with Aladdin and Genie, Lucille and the others had to break the news to the Sultan.

"I see...Oh my poor Jasmine." Sultan was saddened at the fate that befell his daughter.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. Whoever took her won't dare harm her, she's too important for them." Oswald tried to ease the ruler's concerns.

"But even so, she must be so scared."

"Yeah...Your Majesty, we will find and save Princess Jasmine. You have my word." Lucille promised.

"I appreciate your kind words, young one. If you can find her, please save her and return her home to Agrabah."

"Of course."

"Oh, that reminds me. I have a gift for you, it is a reward for saving me from the dungeons earlier. The Sultan motioned one of the palace staff to approach them and hand over what looked like a very old book. "It is an old relic that we have kept in the palace vaults for a very long time. Perhaps it will be of more aid to you on your journey."

Chi was the only one who gasped. "My word! That's one of the Book of Prophecies! How did it survive this long outside of-!" Chi cried out.

"...?"

"Furball, we're going to have a little talk once we leave."

"You will always be welcomed in Agrabah, oh, I believe there was others who helped with defeating Jafar, I would like to meet them and give them my thanks."

"Oh, the person you're looking for is Aladdin, he's the one who helped the Princess escape from Jafar's grasp the first time. Or at least that was my brother's version of the tale, he and his friends helped too."

"Hmmm, perhaps I should send them an invite then to the palace." The Sultan smiled.

"Farewell, your Majesty." They bowed respectfully to the ruler and left the palace.

* * *

Once outside the palace walls, Zen poked the Chirithy. "Okay fluff ball, explain, what do you mean by a Book of Prophecies?"

"Well...there used to be five foretellers who were apprentice Keyblade Wielders to the Master of Masters. He created those five books and bestowed each one of his apprentices a book that was said to foretell the future.

"Foretell the future?!" Zen and Lucille cried out in surprise.

"I'm not so sure if there's any prophecies left in there that haven't been fulfilled already. This was all the way back to the Age of Fairytales." Chi noted.

"Still, if it's a relic from that era, it could provide a clue to what really happened back when all the worlds were one and how they ended up fragmented like this, who knows? Maybe it can tell us how to unite all the worlds again. Think about it, there would be no need for barriers, isolation or rules on world order." Oswald explained.

"But the writing, it's written in such a complex language." Florian took at glance at one of the open pages that Zen had opened.

"Huh...You know, I think I've seen this language before." Zen blinked in confusion.

"You know what? I'm getting that strange case of deja vu too." Lucille tilted her head in confusion. "Maybe I read it in a book somewhere on my island when I was younger? No...that's silly, there's no way I'd be old enough to understand something like that."

"Wasn't Ansem the Wise studying this type of dead language...?" Zen tried to recall, it was so long ago, and he had been very young during the days before the fall of Radiant Garden.

"Perhaps Master Merlin might know, he seems to be a academic sort, right?" Chi offered.

"It's possible, that old coot is known for knowing things most people wouldn't even remember happened." Oswald agreed.

"I wonder if Lord Yggdrasil knows how to read it." Florian wondered to himself quietly.

"Hey...um...before I forget...I just want to say...I'm sorry!" Lucille struggled to say before bowing at Zen and Oswald.

"For what?" Oswald looked puzzled.

"For how I reckless I acted with Jafar, I could have endangered everyone with my mistake. What's worst, I made you worry about me, I'm sorry."

Oswald sighed inwardly before exhaling. "Well, the fact that you knew you made a mistake and acknowledged it, is always a step in the right direction." The rabbit smiled.

"Look, we're not angry at you, although I won't lie, we were more worried than angry, knowing how much of a simple-minded idiot you are. Just next time, promise us...that you'll consider our feelings and discuss with us what you have in mind before just charging in? I mean after all we're fri-" Zen lectured before he stopped himself mid-way from saying something he didn't want to admit yet.

"We're...what?" Lucille smiled mischievously.

"Let's just go back to the ship." Zen sighed and sharply turned around to march off towards the Gummi Ship.

"Wait no! I want to know what it is! Finish what you were going to saaaayyyy~!" Lucille chased after him, demanding he finished his sentence. Florian, Chi and Oswald followed with knowing smiles.

"Hey Sis!" Sora waved to them as they found themselves approaching Sora and King's Mickey's loyal followers.

"Sora! How did it go with Aladdin?" Lucille asked.

"He's pretty depressed, but he freed Genie like he promised, so now he can help us search for Jasmine." Sora explained.

"I'd feel the same if something like this happened to my dear Ortensia, world order or not, I'd just hunt down the fiend and give a lesson he soon won't forget." Oswald sympathized with Aladdin, after all, he had a sweetheart of his own.

"Funny enough, that's what Aladdin wanted to do." Goofy brought up.

"But that would be be meddling, so we couldn't." Donald made sure to remind them all.

"Oh yeah, the whole world order thing." Lucille scratched her cheek.

"As much I want to sympathize with Mr. Aladdin. We don't want Sora or Master Oswald getting in trouble by breaking the rules." Chi told them.

"So, we'll be going our separate ways huh? Please don't get kidnapped again, I don't think my heart could take another shock like that."

"Hey, I wasn't _trying_ to get kidnapped, y'know. Don't worry, I've learned my lesson." Lucille huffed but then reassured her brother.

"See you soon then, right?" Sora smiled.

"You can count on it." Lucille beamed back.

* * *

As the Ortensia cruised its way through interspace, Zen had taken an interest in that book they were given and tried to make out anything from the writings, but alas, the words escaped him every time. "I know I've seen this lettering and language before, if only I can put my finger on where." Zen sighed as he gave up, closing the book once again.

"So Zen~ What were you going to say back in Agrabah?" Lucille sang with a cat-like grin.

"Not even going to honour that with a response." Zen rolled his eyes at her and placed the ancient book in the vault for now, at least until they could find a expert in dead languages.

"Aster was right, you're no fun." Lucille puffed her cheeks.

"And you're incredibly annoying." Zen countered easily.

"Hey, Zen?"

"What now?" He groaned.

"Do you...ever get weird dreams that involves weird stain-glassed pillars with pictures on them and people giving out cryptic nonsense to you." Lucille asked.

"...What?" Zen looked bewildered.

"Um, actually never mind, it was a pretty dumb question. I mean whoever heard of such a thing, right? Heh heh...heh." Lucille laughed awkwardly and started to slink away in embarrassment.

"Hey, I believe a certain someone promised Florian and I some stories about your island. I want to learn more about this world you love so much." Zen reminded before showing a rare smile.

Lucille's eyes brightened and agreed to take up the challenge. "I'll go find Flo and I'll tell you guys about this one time where Sora decided to draw on our sleeping faces during a sleepover we had when we were younger." Lucille grinned mischievously.

* * *

Back in Hallow Bastion at the meeting table for all their plans, Maleficent, Hades and Riku were all present. Hades sighed after a period of silence.

"That smarmy vizier could've had 'em. If someone stuck around to give him a hand." Hades made a stab at Riku, who only remained in that world long enough to bring that girl Maleficent wanted back here.

"Hey, I did my part. I brought the Princess, didn't I? I even had to tie up that Chirithy in a sack so it couldn't see my face or what I was doing." Riku shot back.

"Jafar was beyond help, consumed by his own hatred. One should beware of letting it burn too fiercely." Maleficent gave a stark warning.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Lighten up. I'm as cool as they come, okay?" Hades backed up a bit.

"Maleficent, did you know that Jafar kidnapped Lucille? That was not what I agreed to." Riku narrowed his eyes.

"Ah yes, I assure you, I had no part in Jafar's plan that involved dragging that girl into it. Although, I thought you wanted to bring her here for safe keeping, it would have saved you a lot of trouble had the sleep spell had been more potent like my own."

"I do, but I won't drag her here against her will." Riku argued.

"I'm afraid you'll find that you may not have that choice, she will not likely leave her companions just on your say so. After all, she's still bound to the Seraph who will no doubt object to anything that would threaten their vessel or the hold they have on her heart." Maleficent warned.

"Lucille isn't some vessel to be fought over. There is a way to reverse it, right? The pact I mean. I hope you're not lying about that." Riku grew angry at the thought of that, Lucille deserved better.

"Oh certainly. I gave you my word, didn't I?"

"If it comes to it...even if she hates me for it, I'll bring her to Hallow Bastion myself so we can cure her. I want to talk to her first, I can make her understand if I tell her what's really going on." Riku earnestly reasoned.

"Okay, we get it lover boy. No need to get over-passionate about it." Hades gagged. "Oh, by the way, kid, have we got something special for you."

"Huh?"

"We had a deal, yes? You help us and we grant your wish..." The table lit up to reveal a hologram of a familiar red-head. "Kairi!"

"Go to her, your vessel is waiting."

Hook entered the room slowly while twirling his hook. "Just remember, this is no pleasure cruise. It won't be a pleasant voyage."

"Why are you doing all this for me? What's the catch?" Riku was still very doubtful that this was out of good gesture, they clearly want something from him.

"Catch? What's the catch? Silly boy, you're like a son to me. I only want you to be happy." Maleficent came closer and placed a cold hand near him.

Riku instantly backed away and slapped the hand away from him. "I seriously doubt it."

"Believe what you wish. But lest we forget, I kept my end of the bargain. Of course, I will also uphold my word that we will find a cure for your dear friend to rid her of that parasite that is leeching off her light even as we speak."

Riku just gave an intense stare but eventually turned around to follow Hook to his ship. What no one knew that Moira was spying on them, hidden from sight above them. Guess Master Matoya's hunch was right on the munny after all. This didn't bode well at all, especially since they almost had all seven Princesses now, they were running out of time.

* * *

 **~:Omake Skit 03: Luma's Moon Sugar Cookies:~**

* * *

As usual Aster took care of the mundane task of tending the Accessory store while Cid returned to his main work which was Gummi Ship block building and modifications.

Meanwhile Luma was visiting the Mooglecrafts Store, she became curious about it after Moglette visited to drop off more accessories for the store and told Luma about it.

Suddenly there was a loud explosion from upstairs that made Aster jump. "What the?" He exited the store and ran up to the next floor to reach the Mooglecrafts store.

When he opened the door, he was greeted by a huge cloud of black smoke, coughing his way through it he managed to get inside. "Is everyone alright? What happened? Wait...why does it smell like burnt cookies in here?"

"Aster...kupo. You need to *cough* tell *cough cough* Miss Luna that our oven *cough* is not the same as a baking oven, kupo." Moglette tried to explain despite trying to cough out all the smoke.

Luna just looked really sad at her now blacken and burnt Moon sugar cookies with a single tear. "I just wanted to make some cookies for everyone to surprise them, but when I placed it inside the oven, it blew up instantly, now all my hard work has gone up in smoke, literally." Luma explained sadly.

"Luma, Moglette's oven is for crafting advanced magic crafts, not for baking." Aster petted the snow-haired girl's head.

"Oh..." Luma now felt silly.

"Tell you what, why don't we go see Aerith and start up a new batch? We'll make it a big surprise for everyone, how about that?" Aster warmly encouraged.

"We can? Can we make some for Lucille and Sora too?" Luma asked excitedly.

"I said everyone, didn't I?" Aster winked. "What do you say Mooglette? Will batch of Moon sugar cookies make up for Luma's mistake?" Aster turned to the Moogles.

"COOKIES? KUPO!" All Moogles seemed to be in perfect agreement on that front.

"I'll take that as a yes from my fellow Moogle crafters, kupo." Moglette told the auburn mechanic.

"Aerith should be available at the small house today, we can bake them there." Aster offered his hand out to Luma to take hold of.

"Yay!" Luma cheered with child-like joy and took hold a gentle hold of Aster's hand.

 **A while later on the Ortensia after they stopped by Traverse Town for supplies**

"Awww, they're so cute~ I almost feel guilty about eating them." Lucille praised as she looked at one of the small cookies that looked like a little crescent moon with light blue icing and sprinkles on top.

"I'm more amazed that Aster knows how to cook and bake, he _really_ wasn't kidding when he said he got bored of tending that shop." Zen shrugged before taking another nibble at the small cookie. Everyone got a small bag each full of small moon sugar cookies, so they were easier to share out.

"They say that Moon sugar cookies are a great way to cheer someone up and lighten their mood." Oswald stated matter of fact tone.

"Really?" Florian stopped his nibbling on the cookie halfway at this.

Lucille, Florian and Chi stared at Zen intently. After a few seconds, Zen finished off the cookie he was currently chewing and swallowed it before glaring back. "...What?"

"...They don't seem to work on Zen, and after all that work Luma and Aster put into them too..." Lucille looked disappointed.

"What in the world...?" Zen had no idea what Lucille was implying.

* * *

 **~:Omake End:~**

* * *

Alright, that's chapter 11 done! Whooo \o/

I feel this chapter turned out better than I thought it would when writing it. XD

I hope that everyone has enjoyed the latest instalment. Thanks again to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and alerted and even read this story so far to this point. I hope that you continue to enjoy this story.

Until the next chapter, happy reading folks! Moogle Empress out!

Moogle: Kupo!


	12. Episode 12: Bittersweet Feelings

Here we are with chapter 12! We're now at the Monstro part, this is the part I've been dreading for a while. XD I've been wondering how to combat this one since this is where I imagine the shipping and the rising tensions is going to become more apparent. XD

I still haven't really decided on the official pairing with Lucille yet (besides from SoraXKairi and implied AvaXGula fluff. Those two are totally set in stone XD) But if you like, feel free to leave your thoughts on this matter and let me know what you want kind of shipping you want to see it heading towards. That's why I've approached this at a neutral/borderline triangle at this point, I want to keep it open so you guys can decide for yourselves who you want to see. =3

Even so I hope you enjoy the chapter! =D

* * *

 **Episode 12: Bittersweet Feelings**

* * *

Meanwhile in the realm of Darkness, there was a certain part of the realm where no Heartless could touch or no darkness could reach, despite the rest of the realm being trapped in perpetual darkness. This safe haven was known as the 'Sacred Grove' That was thanks to the World Tree, a majestic yet ancient tree of great power and wisdom that had existed long before the old world was destroyed. It was said that it had roots in the core of every world's heart, therefore connecting it to countless worlds.

It had once been a part of the realm of Kingdom Hearts itself, but when Kingdom Hearts disappeared into darkness, never to resurface, the world tree prevailed and stood strong even now in this realm of eternal darkness. It stood as a defiant reminder to the darkness that so long light in people's hearts exist, it will remain as a beacon of hope. Since the tree had a connection to Kingdom Hearts, it was essentially how hearts are channelled and reborn once they return to that fabled land, then transferred back to the tree, thanks to the World Tree and its roots that stretched across countless worlds.

A middle aged looking Seraph with unruly messy raven black hair that ended just at just ended above his shoulders, the left side of his hair covered one part of his face but that was probably for the best since he had a scar on that side that made him unable to ever use his left eye. That didn't stop him though, he was still a pretty damn good fighter if said so himself. His remaining unharmed eye was a warn brown hue. He wore clothes similar to that of an samurai attire, although he had decided to make a few alterations that made him move faster in battle, such as not wearing any heavy armour and he couldn't stand helmets.

As got closer to where the World Tree deep within the grove, he saw Lord Yggdrasil who was tending to the World Tree as usual.

Even though he was an Elder Seraph, he did not have the appearance of an elderly spirit. He looked like a young man with forest green eyes and silver-blonde hair flowed down almost to his feet, but it was tied in a very loose ponytail with what looked like fern leaves. In fact, where ears would usually be were instead leaf-like and angled downwards. He wore a ancient sagely robe of some kind that were in various shades of green and white, if one was old enough to remember, they would strongly resemble the foreteller robes that were worn by the Five Foretellers from the Age of Fairytales.

A Seraph could change their physical appearance anytime they wanted if they so desired, surprisingly, very few of their kind ever did that even though they were capable of doing so. Most choose to remain in the form that they awoke in because it felt more true to themselves. Yggdrasil was one of many who chose to remain in their current form instead of changing to another, although that did make it harder to take him seriously even though he was the oldest of all the Seraphim, well, besides Matoya herself.

"Kuroshi. Have you brought news about Realm of Light?" Yggdrasil turned around to face the other Seraph.

"Indeed, I've been a busy bee, and I see you've been doing your work as well." Kuroshi grinned.

"We've recently seen a number of keyholes being sealed, preventing both us and the Heartless from entry into that world."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Kuroshi pointed out.

"Of course. That means less worlds for us to worry about and it prevents the Heartless from increasing their numbers, at least for now. Also, Luma has finally awakened now Traverse Town's heart is safe, but she hasn't come back yet."

"I think this is because you won't let her keep the body that her old man made for her. You really need to be less uptight about rules you know." Kuroshi bluntly stated.

Yggdrasil sighed. "Even if I did allow it, she would not return. She's far too attached to the realm of light, while I can sympathize with her loss of losing a loved one, remaining attached to that realm can lead to dangerous thoughts, it's easy for the heart to be swayed, even if they started as good intentions."

"Lord Yggdrasil..." Kuroshi narrowed his eyes in compassion. Kuroshi may not be as ancient as Yggdrasil but they had been long-time friends, long enough for Kuroshi to earn Yggdrasil's trust with some secrets that he told no Seraph before. "I'm sure Luma will be fine. Have a little faith in her."

"If you say so, Kuroshi. So, tell me, what did you learn about the incident at Destiny Islands?" Yggdrasil slowly nodded before giving him a serious stare.

"I'm afraid this news might not be so pleasant." Kuroshi gave a grim look. "According to what I was able to gather in the Realm of Darkness of what remains of Destiny Islands, it looks like this was an inside job. As you know, I made sure to create a seal over that keyhole before I handed it over to Florian, I even taught him how to renew it, now I wish I had actually told him how to make a new one in case the one I made end up getting destroyed by someone or something."

"But who would have the knowledge to know where the keyhole would be in the first place? No Islander of that world would have known, we made sure of that." Yggdrasil wondered.

"I can think of one devious and clever enough, the mastermind who took down Radiant Garden and the Land of Departure." Kuroshi suggested.

"...Xehanort." Yggdrasil's hands clenched into fists at the thought of that man.

"He might have used a time travel spell and possess one of the islanders. This is only a theory though so I don't have proof." Kuroshi theorized.

"No, I can imagine that despicable man of committing such an act. Time travel is a forbidden branch of magic after all which we already know he has abused over and over again. His lust for darkness knows no end."

"Good news is I saw Florian recently in Traverse Town...but..."

"But what?" Yggdrasil's eyes narrowed.

"Maybe I shouldn't say, because I know you're still _really_ bitter and distrustful with mortals after the whole Keyblade War incident and probably talking about this now would-" Kuroshi started to backtrack quickly, becoming even more fearful of Yggdrasil's reaction.

" **What...Did...Florian...Do**?" Yggdrasil calmly warned but with a hint that told Kuroshi to not anger him by hiding what he knew.

"He...might have...sorta...made...a Seraphim...pact with...a mortal girl...from the Islands?" Kuroshi managed to confess while backtracking slowly away.

A period of silence followed and once the news had sunk in fully, Yggdrasil finally spoke.

"HE DID WHAT?!" His voice could be heard by all the Seraphim within range of the Sacred Grove.

* * *

Back on the Ortensia, Florian gave a soft sneeze and felt a shiver throughout all his body.

"Flo, are you okay?" Lucille noticed this and went to check up on her little friend and partner.

"Y-yeah, just for some reason...I felt like someone was talking about me just then." Florian nodded slowly.

"Do you ever wonder about the other Seraphim back there? Do you miss them?" Lucille wondered.

"Well...I don't know many of them, when we're given guardianship duties, we're rarely ever allowed to leave our worlds unless it's for very important reasons. There are few that I miss being around. Lord Kuroshi is one." Florian honestly answered.

"I see. Who else? I don't think you've ever talked about any other Seraphim other than Lord Yggdrasil and Lord Kuroshi." Lucille smiled and leaned her head on one hand while listening to Florian.

"Hmm..." He was about to say until they felt the ship shake violently.

"Oh no, don't tell me we crashed into something else." Lucille groaned.

"Lucille! Florian! We have a problem!" Zen rushed over to them.

Sensing the urgency in the air, they hurried into the cockpit.

"Nononononono! This is the worst time for reconfiguration now!" Oswald panicked as he tried to regain control of the ship.

"What happened?" Lucille asked.

"We just ran into this huge way, I don't know what it did but when it knocked into us, it messed up Oswald's controls, we can't steer this thing." Zen tried to explain while trying to figure out which button would help them.

"Argh c'mon you confounded machine!" Oswald slammed on the board, hitting any buttons he could. That was when they saw the giant whale before them.

"I heard some stories about a whale that roamed the interspace between here, I think this Monstro!" It dawned on the rabbit just who this monster of a whale was.

"This is bad! He's heading straight for us! We've got to leave now!" Chi panicked.

"What do you think I'm trying to do?!" Oswald cried out.

It was too late though, Monstro opened his wide mouth and the suction from his mouth alone was enough to pull the whole gummi ship in, with all its passengers in it.

* * *

 _In one of Lucille's memories, it was from a time when she had still be bed-ridden, she looked out of the window that spanned to the boundless ocean beyond. She leaned her upper body over, leaning over the wood planks of the window with the curtains lightly blowing a few bangs of her hair at the front in the wind, along with the thin lace curtains._

 _Next to her was a flower pot that held the seed of a Paopu flower. While it was yet time to grow, Lucille diligently watered it and cared for it lovingly. It was rather sad that her only companion that literally a plant, but it gave her comfort, especially when she's left alone in her room while Sora and Riku were out playing on the playground island._

 _She yearned for freedom outside these four walls, or at least someone or something to talk to. She heard a gentle knocking coming from the door._

 _"Lu, it's me, Riku." Riku's voice could be heard from the other side. Lu was a nickname that Riku called her by._

 _"Riku? Mom said you and Sora went to the other island to play today?" Lucille turned to face the door, sitting up right._

 _Gently opening it, Riku entered inside with a gentle smile. "Sora will be here soon, he's just getting some drinks, it's pretty hot out there today." Riku approached before sitting on the edge of Lucille's bed._

 _"Really? I haven't really felt it." Lucille looked puzzled, since the house was always the right temperature, neither too warm or cold, she didn't really know what an actual day in the sun is like yet._

 _"...You still can't come outside with us?" Riku looked sad at this._

 _Lucille gripped on her bedsheets and shook her head. "Mom said that my body is still too weak. It's not fair..." She sniffed._

 _"...Hey, Lucille, let's make a promise, okay?"_

 _"A promise...?" Lucille became intrigued._

 _"When you get better, let's build a raft and go explore the other worlds, you, me and Sora, we'd be a great team!" Riku beamed._

 _"You'd wait for me to get better, really?" Lucille smiled hopefully._

 _"Of course, you're my best friend just like Sora, I'd never leave you behind." Riku nodded._

 _"Pinky swear?" Lucille brought out her little finger, her eyes shined with an innocent hope._

 _"Yeah, it's a promise." Riku nodded and hooked his little finger around hers, sealing their promise._

* * *

Lucille found herself waking up slowly but surely to the foul stench of rotting fish and resting on something wet and slimy. Once she finally came around, she found herself inside somewhere the belly of a whale.

"What the...don't tell me that-" Lucille looked around and thankfully found a certain greenette.

"Island girl, you okay?" Zen approached once he saw Lucille had woken up, he offered an hand to her using his normal arm.

"Yeah, thanks." Lucille smiled and took his hand as he lifted her up with it. "I'm going to take a stab and say we're in the whale now?" Lucille asked the obvious.

"Yup, geez, just our luck that the controls locked up at the wrong time." Zen groaned.

"But we're still in one piece though." Lucille tried to reassure.

"Say, now that I've noticed, isn't Florian with you?" Zen had noted the distinct lack of a seraphic presence.

"No, we must have been thrown to another part of the whale while they landed elsewhere. Good thing the pact Florian and I share is working though. I can feel him even now."

"Oh yeah, pact partners can track each other using their connection. It also stops you two from getting separated into different worlds, right?"

"Right, that's what Master Merlin told us anyway." Lucille recalled the old wizard's words.

 _"Now remember, my dear. While the pact can have many benefits, there are also limitations to it as well. For example, you both must never enter two different worlds alone. The link between your hearts is like a rope, if you pull it too far apart and give it too much pressure, you can snap it in two, severing the pact along with your hearts being damaged in the process."_

"So we know he's inside the whale with us, can't really say if that's good or bad though given our situation."

"Heh heh yeah..." Lucille laughed nervously. "But the good thing is that we now have a compass! Kinda..."

"Well, guess that makes you the temporary leader. Do lead on, oh great one." Zen teased.

"Don't make fun of me." Lucille grumbled. "I do hope Florian, Oswald and Chi are together and okay."

"Lucille? I didn't expect you to see you here too." Lucille jumped when she recognized the voice, she turned around to confirm it.

"Riku?"

* * *

"Knock it off!" Donald's cry of complain broke through Sora's unconscious and brought him back to reality. Pulling himself up, he approached his two friends, Donald and Goofy.

"Sora, are you okay?"

Sora nodded. "What are you going doing? Where are we, anyway?" He then looked around.

A chest of some sort nearly fell on top of the brunette boy, he managed to jump back in time to avoid it though. "Whoa!"

"Uh, you know, I think that big ol' whale just swallowed us." Goofy guessed.

"Oh geez, ya doofus, was it that obvious?" A familiar voice groaned in annoyance.

"Your Highness!" Donald turned to face Oswald and saluted him.

"Oh hey there, Prince Oswald! Ya lookin' swell! Did the Monstro swallow you guys up too?" Goofy cheerfully waved.

Oswald sighed. "Unfortunately yes. What's worst, I think the collision caused us to get separated from Lucille and Zen, I'm hoping those two are together."

Florian was also with the rabbit as well as Chi.

"Oh poor Zen and Lady Lucille..." Chi whimpered.

"Hope Sis is alright, her sense of direction isn't...ah...well...it's just really bad." Sora remembered that her sister always did have a problem telling which way was which, which caused no end of teasing from Riku.

"Don't worry. Zen will protect her, I know it." Florian reassured the Chirithy and Sora.

"That is if they are together." Oswald reminded.

"How do we keep bumping into each other?" Sora raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Ya know, Sora. I'm beginning to wonder that too. Whoever is in charge of fate has either a funny sense of humour or a sadistic one." Oswald agreed with Sora.

Donald was still tapping his foot impatiently at whatever was throwing stuff at them from above.

"And for today's weather: expect showers." Another chest fell on top of Goofy's shield. "Heavy showers!" he then added.

"Hey! Who's there?" Donald demanded.

That was when a small wooden boy popped his head out of hiding. "It's me."

"Oh it's just Pinocchio." Donald calmed down for a moment before he jumped back in shock. "Pinocchio?!"

"Pinocchio?" Jeremy Cricket jumped on to Sora's shoulder.

"A talking cricket?!" It was Florian's turn to jump back in shock.

"Hey, now that's just plain rude. I'm Pinocchio's conscience!" Jeremy placed his hands on his hips.

"O-oh I'm so sorry. It was just...so out of the blue." Florian apologised.

"He needs a cricket as his conscience...?" Chi looked confused.

"A good fairy known as the Blue Fairy told me to act as his conscience so he wouldn't stay from his path." Jeremy explained.

"Now that I think about it, he's a wooden puppet isn't he? It's very impressive that he grew a heart of his own." Oswald was mildly impressed.

"Indeed it is, Your Highness. Oh by the way, an honour to meet you finally, Prince Oswald. King Mickey and Queen Minnie had told me nothing but good things about you."

"They did huh?" Oswald crossed his arms. "Typical, they're definitely a match made in heaven those two." He shook his head with a soft smile.

Pinocchio picked up what looked like giant piece of gummi block and started to carry it away.

"Pinocch, where are you going? Pinocch! Come on everybody! After him, quick!"

They made their way to jump across the multiple crates and piles of wooden planks to chase after the wooden puppet.

"Lucille...stay safe. We'll find you and Zen soon." Florian prayed before going after everyone else.

* * *

Meanwhile back with Lucille and Zen.

"So this is Riku, huh? The one you keep harping on about?" Zen crossed his arms.

"Hey! Don't put it like that!"

"Who is that?" Riku questioned.

"Oh, remember the other two friends that I mentioned back in Traverse Town, this is one of them. Zen, this is Riku, my best friend since childhood." Lucille introduced them to each other.

"So you're the one who decided threatening my best friend was such a good idea. I don't take kindly to people who push Aster around."

"He was your friend?"

"Yes. Normally I'd punch you but since you're Lucille's friend, I'm just warning you to be more careful." Zen narrowed his eyes.

 _'...What is with the tense atmosphere in this room just now? It's almost like those two are staring each other down like a contest.'_ She couldn't shake the unnerving feeling of rising tension between them.

"That should be my line to you. Why is Lucille travelling around with someone carrying the claw of a Heartless?"

They both looked shocked at Riku's words.

"How did you know that Zen-!" Lucille questioned.

"I...have my reasons." Riku didn't want to admit he learnt it from Maleficent, that explained so much why Riku didn't like this guy when he saw him the first time. Lucille was travelling with someone who was more likely to kill her!

"I don't believe that for a second. You found out from someone didn't you? Shall I take a guess and say Maleficent?"

"Uhhh...Maleficent...? Who's she?" Lucille blinked.

"Oh right, you don't know about her yet. She's an evil fairy who helped the same man who experimented on me and Ion. She's also the same one who was working with Jafar." Zen told her.

"No way...Riku...you...you made contact with someone like her?"

"I'm not helping her, if that's what you're thinking." Riku made a white lie. It wasn't exactly untrue since he still had his doubts that Maleficent telling him the truth, in fact, he still believed in Sora despite what he had seen back in Traverse Town, but he couldn't deny that he had done some things that did feel guilty about, even if it had been for Kairi's and Lucille's sake.

"Regardless if you're helping her or not, doesn't change the fact that makes me even more suspicious of you and your motives." Zen narrowed his eyes.

"Hmph, trust me, the feeling is mutual." Riku coldly stated back.

"Okay! Look, we need to work together to figure out how to find the others. So how about you guys keep your duel of wits to a minimal until we get out of here?" Lucille pulled them apart.

"He started it." Riku glared.

"I don't care, I'm finishing it!" Lucille glared back.

Zen sighed. "Look, she's right. We're not going to get anywhere like this. Lucille and Florian can track each other so we can leave the directions to her."

"...You do know that Lucille is terrible at map-reading and directions in general right?" Riku revealed something Zen didn't know before.

"R-Riku!" Lucille blushed.

"...You sure that you can find Florian?"

"Of course I can!" Lucille was determined to prove Riku wrong. She focused to try and sense Florian out. "I think he's to the east, this way." Lucille pointed and headed west.

"Island girl...east is this way." Zen pointed the opposite direction.

"Oh...I knew that!" She quickly walked back and went the other way.

"Heh, I see that part of you hasn't changed at all." Riku teased.

Lucille pouted. "You suck sometimes, you know that?"

While Lucille had went a little further ahead. The two returned daggers at each other.

"I don't know what you're up to here, but I'm watching you." Zen narrowed his eyes.

"My words exactly. I don't trust or like you, but for Lucille's sake, I'll tolerate you."

"At least we can agree on that." Zen snarled.

"Guuuys, c'mon!"

Lucille and Zen headed on to look for their friends, Riku on the other hands, had other plans, but he had to make sure Lucille was put in a safe place until he could come back and take her back Hook's ship. Her 'friend' though would be a problem...but he did have an idea that could work.

* * *

"Have you got there, Pinocchio?" A kind old man turned to his son, seeing the large green cube that he brought back with him.

"With this, we can get out of here, Father." The wooden puppet boy answered.

"Really? With this big block? You think so?"

"It's true." Sora chimed in as they climbed up on the half ruined small boat.

"Ugh, I think we all need a serious wash once we get out of here. Going to be smelling like rotting fish otherwise." Oswald shook the saliva water off.

Florian and Chi just floated across the large pool of water.

"You guys are lucky." Donald whined.

"So how did you end up here Pinocchio?" Sora asked out of curiosity.

"Oh, my. So the whale swallowed all of you too, my goodness!" The old man approached them.

"Yeah, looks like it." Sora nodded.

"My name is Geppetto. I'm Pinocchio's father." The old man introduced himself. "When we got separated, I travelled all over, looking for him. Thank goodness we're together again."

Geppetto then picked up the gummi block and carried it over to one side. "So you seem to know Pinocchio quite well."

"In truth, this is the first time my pals and I have seen him. I take it though you've met him before Sora?"

"Yeah, we saw him in Traverse Town." Sora answered.

"I hope he was a good boy in my absence. Well we've all had quite a journey. Right Pinocchio?" He heard no response. "Pinocchio?"

Alas there was no sign of the wooden boy anywhere.

"I told him not to wander off. He can be a naughty boy, but he's still so precious to me. He's my light." The old man sighed.

"Don't worry Mr. Geppetto, we'll find him and bring him back to you." Florian reassured him.

"Uh Lord Florian, I don't think he can see you." Chi whispered.

"Oh..."

"We'll find him, just stay here, okay?" Sora smiled at Florian and then relayed his message to Geppetto.

"Oh you'd do that? Thank you, do be careful, this place is still quite dangerous."

"Let's go, we need to find my Sis and Zen too." Sora turned to everyone.

"Don't need to tell me twice there." Oswald shrugged.

They headed off into the depths of this whale in search of Pinocchio.

* * *

Lucille tried looking around to see if she could see anyone yet, but no luck. She turned around with an annoyed look at the two boys. They were still glaring at each other, expecting some kind of attack.

 _'Good grief and I thought Sora and Donald were like oil and water. It's like they're waiting for the first strike from one of them.'_ Lucille shook her head.

She then noticed something in the corner of her eye, it looked like a wooden puppet? She quietly went ahead to approach the wooden boy.

He looked very lost. "Hey there, little guy. Why are you all the way in here? It's not safe." Lucille bent down to the frightened puppet.

"Oh...You're not one of those creatures, right? You're not going to hurt me?" He hoped.

"Of course not! My name is Lucille, and you are?" Lucille smiled warmly.

"I'm Pinocchio! I wanted to try and find more of those big blocks to help my Father and I escape with a Gum...Gum..."

"Gummi ship?"

"That's it!"

"Well, I bet he's really worried about you and your safety is more important to him than finding more of those blocks."

"Really?"

"Yeah! There's people I know that must be really worried about me, and I don't want them to be worried any longer than they need to be." Lucille nodded.

"Hey, don't wander off like that Lucille." Riku scolded.

"Oh geez, sorry Dad, I was only like a few steps ahead." Lucille rolled her eyes.

"Hm? Hey, I think I see the others and...wait a minute is that Sora, Donald and Goofy? Don't tell me Monstro swallowed them too." Zen took a few steps further. "Hey! There you are guys!"

"Well well, looks like you and Lucille were together after all. No in-fighting I hope." Oswald teased.

"Oh please, I just had to suffer Lucille get lose her bearings six times in this freaking whale."

"It wasn't six times! It was...five." Lucille made a rebuttal.

"Yup, that's Sis's famous navigation skills at work alright."

"Oh shut up, Sora!" She puffed her cheeks.

"Heh heh." Sora grinned.

"Lucille! I'm so glad you're okay." Florian ran over and hugged her.

"I'm sorry Flo, have you been okay?"

Florian nodded.

"Lord Florian is in good health, Lady Lucille. It's good that we've found each other."

"Yeah, you're telling me. If I had to stay a minute longer with Zen and Riku while they're busy staring each other in a showdown, I'd go stir-crazy! Or should I say whale-crazy?"

"Oh, Riku's here too? But why?" Florian wondered.

"Good question." Zen glared in the corner of his eye, who for some reason was hiding right now.

"Is Pinocchio with you?" Oswald asked them.

"Yeah, he's right here." Lucille pointed next to her.

"What are you doing? C'mon let's go back." Sora called out to Pinocchio.

"You know, Gepetto's awfully worried about you." Goofy added.

"Pinocchio, stop fooling around! This is no time for games!"

"Sora, that's a little harsh. I know Pinocchio shouldn't have come here by himself and worry his Father like this, but he just wanted to help." Lucille chastised

"Sorry, I know. But still..." Sora apologised.

"But, Sora, I thought you liked games. Or are you too cool to play them now that you have the Keyblade?"

"Riku?" Lucille was taken aback by the strange hostility.

"Did...something happen between them?" Florian looked concerned.

"That's what I want to know. They certainly weren't like this when I saw them last together." Lucille looked just as confused.

"Riku? Wh-What are you doing here?"

"Just playing with Pinocchio."

"You know what I mean! What about Kairi? Did you find her?" Sora asked.

"Maybe. Catch us and maybe I'll tell you what I know."

"Okay, Riku, what's going on here? And what did you mean by-" Lucille stood up but she didn't have long to hear anything as Riku grabbed hold of her and Pinocchio.

"Hey! Riku, stop! Let go!"

"Sis!"

"Lucille/Lady Lucille!" Both Florian and Chi said at the same time.

"Riku! Damn it, I knew he was up to something! C'mon we need to go after them." Zen told the others.

Sora didn't even hesitate and chased after them with his friends. Zen and Florian followed quickly after.

"Zen, Lord Florian! Sora! Don't leave us behind!" Chi cried out as she tried to catch up.

"...What was that all about?" Oswald shook his head and ran to catch up with others.

* * *

Lucille growled with a vein popped out of her head, she found herself somehow tied up to one the wall of Monstro's oddly coloured inner lining, her hands glued in place by some weird dark magic.

"Riku...Why are you doing this? What's happened to you? I don't understand anything anymore..." Lucille sighed, her cheeks burned red as she retraced her memory from a few minutes before Riku left her tied her so she wouldn't run away.

 _~A few minutes before~_

"Riku, what's going on here?! Why are you acting like this?" Lucille cried out in frustration once they arrived at a huge clearing within this strange belly. She went in front of Pinocchio in attempt to shield him.

"Lucille, I know you. You're far too trusting for your own good. You were travelling with someone with the claw of a Heartless and a Seraph who's just using you. What's worse, you don't even know what's happening to you right now. Maybe Sora's being tricked too, and he doesn't know it either."

"What? Riku, I don't get what you're saying. Okay, Zen's a little difficult to get along with, but he's really not as cold or mean as he pretends to be. And I don't know who's been telling you that, Florian would never hurt me or use me for that matter. He saved me! When I fell through that door, and might I add -YOU- were the one who pushed me through it, he invoked the pact so he could take me to safety before we reached the realm of darkness at the bottom. You make it sound he planned all this, which is totally not true. I'm not the smartest person, but even I know that!"

"Wait, you mean you didn't even have say in that pact when he forged it with you?!" Riku's voice rose a higher level of anger.

"Well...I was unconscious...so I actually didn't really see it happen." Lucille admitted.

"And you **still** think he did it out of the goodness of his heart? If he even has one to begin with. Seraphim are no different from Heartless, they're just sucking out the light in your heart so you can become a puppet for them later." Riku argued.

"...No, not Florian! He'd never do that, you don't know him like I do, he's too good of a person to ever think of such a thing. Besides, they don't allow pacts to be made anymore, Florian only invoked out of the necessity of our situation at the time, and I choose to keep the pact going. He even offered to cancel it before, so I know someone's been telling you lies!" Lucille shook her head.

Riku sighed. "I knew you wouldn't listen. What if I told you that I found Kairi?"

"You did?" Lucille gasped.

"Don't you want to go see her too? Lucille, that pact you have isn't anything to proud of, it's a sickness. We can find a cure for you and save Kairi together."

"Riku...I want to save Kairi more than anything, but I don't want to see you fight with Sora or my friends either. It hurts to see you act this way. Tell me Riku...who are you? Really? Because...I don't know this one I'm seeing right now. Don't you care at all about the promise we all made?!"

"..."

"Riku...?"

Without a word, Riku used something on her that blew her all the way into the sticky wall behind her. Just as tried to move away, she found her hands being stuck into the stomach lining with some kind of magic binding her there. "What are you doing?!"

Riku simply approached until they were only a few inches apart. "Lucille, how are you always so selfless but so stupid at the same time?"

"Say what?!" She grew fangs at him at the insult.

"Even back when we were children, seven years ago, you tried to explain you were at fault for it all, in order to try and protect Sora and I from our parents' anger at us by directing it at you."

"I did that?" Lucille blinked.

"You probably don't remember it since you were going in and out of conscious all the time. It was why we were let off easier with a lighter punishment than we would have gotten, even as you laid there, almost at death's door at one point, you went out of your way to protect us."

"But...it was my fault. I was the one who convinced you and Sora to let me go outside."

"And I should have known better than to be distracted and not kept a closer watch on you. Because of that, you almost drowned in the sea. I swore that I'd never let that repeat, no matter what." Riku clenched his fist.

"You have no idea just how much you mean to me. It scares me...it scares me so much that you could die at any moment if I'm not there to watch you, now more than ever since we're not on the islands anymore and you're with people like **that**."

"Riku...I..." She felt herself froze up when she felt Riku's hand on her cheek.

"I don't care if you don't believe me, I don't care if you hate me in the end, I don't care what I have to do or what sacrifices I have to make, but I **am** going to save you from this pact that threatens to slowly take away every piece of your heart that makes you who you are. I won't leave you behind, Lucille. That I will promise you. So, please, don't leave me behind..."

At that moment, Lucille couldn't think at all, when she felt Riku's lips over hers. She didn't know how to process what was happening, her mind went completely blank, so she just stood there like a statue with eyes widened shock and disbelief. She didn't even react when Riku moved away.

"So just stay here until I come back, alright? I might be able to convince Sora to come with us too, but until then, I don't want you running away back into danger." Riku told her, as her mind slowly started to work again.

By the time she had finally come to her senses, Riku had left with Pinocchio, leaving with only a burning red face and so many questions.

 _~Back at present~_

"Damn it Riku...Why did you have to go and complicate things? YOU IDIOOOOOTTTT!" She screamed so loud, maybe even Monstro himself heard her from within his belly. "Still, why does he think that way about Florian...? He didn't seem to mind him when they met back in Traverse Town. Wait, maybe Maleficent told him all those lies and he's being tricked into doing her dirty work for her!" Lucille clicked.

"I have to save him from Maleficent!" Lucille tried again to break out of her restraints that Riku made, but no luck. She sighed, she would have to wait until her brother and her friends break her out.

"I really could use a miracle right now."

"Ding ding! Did someone call for a miracle~?" An annoyingly familiar but strangely welcoming voice to Lucille's ears entered the room, she turned to see someone she was pleasantly surprised to be happy to see.

"Moira!" She beamed.

"It's The Magnificent Moira Delune, my dear Lulu. Eh, but I guess now's not the time for nit-picking. Ya want freedom? You got it. Evil restraints, begone!" Moira had a cat-like grin and waved a hand over the dark magic that kept Lucille's hands locked to the wall. The spell seemed to work instantly, the magic instantly disappearing allowing Lucille to move her hands and free herself.

"Thanks Moira, you've really saved me there." Lucille thanked.

"So, how was the first smoochy moment with pretty boy?" Moira poked, her cat-like smile never disappearing.

Lucille's face grew deep red and covered her face. "Can we please NOT talk about that?! Oh god, don't tell me you were watching the whole time?!"

"Well, I am an _Observer_." Moira vaguely answered but wagged her eyebrows suggestively.

"...Someone...please kill me..." Lucille wished the ground could swallow her up right now.

"No can do, Lulu. There's big things afoot and if anyone can knock some sense into Romeo, it's you and Sora."

"What do you mean?" Lucille asked curiously, lifting her face from it's hiding place.

"It's Maleficent, she's up to something and the Seven Princesses of Hearts are involved. Master Matoya sensed a horrible fate would happen to Riku and Sora if Riku remains on his current course, and after seeing the world itself and how many Princesses they've snagged, I fear my Master is once again spot on with her prediction. Why can't she ever use that foresight to win the Munny Lottery or something? Or is that what she calls a gross misuse?" Moira explained seriously, until at the last part.

"Riku and Sora are going to be in danger in the future?! How can we help them?" Lucille wanted an answer, Riku might not be acting himself, but he was still her best friend(?), and she won't let Riku go down this self-destructive path, not for Kairi and most certainly not for her. Kairi would have agreed full-heartedly with her if she had been with them right now.

"That's the problem, Master Matoya can't see beyond that, and if she doesn't know, there's no way in hell I'll be able to. I suppose we could just try talking to Riku, maybe poking him a few times with that sword of yours might change his tune."

"Yeah...he seemed so certain that his way is the only way to save Kairi and apparently _save_ me from a 'sickness' caused by the pact I have with Flo, but I'm sure there's another way, one that doesn't mean for him to do all these horrible things to the Princesses, or Kairi, or Sora. I don't want him to fight against Sora or us full-stop."

"Then ya know what ya gotta do." Moira winked. "I'll even back ya, even an Observer can give a little moral support."

Lucille smiled at the quirky but kind-hearted witch. "Thanks." But she then gave an defiant look. "And not poking him with my Lux Arma, I want to save him from his own stupidity, not kill him!"

"Aw c'mon it's a Seraphic weapon! It only hurts people who are drenched in darkness or Heartless themselves, it'll hardly hurt him." Moira argued.

"No." She shot down instantly.

"Boooo..." Moira puffed her cheeks.

* * *

In the stomach of Monstro, Sora, Donald, Goofy along with Lucille's friends had been fighting an onslaught of Heartless to reach this place where Riku and Pinocchio had ended up, they even had a little exchange between Sora and Riku about people's consciences and choosing what their heart felt was the right side to them.

"Riku? Where's Lucille?" Sora demanded.

"And I should tell you because?" Riku narrowed his eyes.

"They're family! That's a reason enough, ya palooka!" Donald snapped.

"Riku! Why are you acting like this? This is not like you at all! I'm sure deep down you don't want to hurt Sora or anyone! Why can't we save Kairi together? Why do we have to fight each other? Neither Lucille or Miss Kairi would ever want this!" Florian tried to reason.

"You..." He hissed as he stared down the small Seraph.

"...?" Florian looked confused.

"Because of you...Lucille is suffering, you may act and look all innocent in that form, but I know what you really are, a Parasite that feeds off people's light."

"Wha-?!" Florian gasped in horror and looked like he had just been stabbed.

"What? Who the hell told you such a big pack of lies? Was it Maleficent? If it was, you're even more stupid than I thought you were! How can you believe her over your own best friend?! What **kind** of friend are you?!" Zen yelled.

"Pacts don't work like that at all! How dare you assume Lord Florian would commit such a betrayal of trust! For shame!" Chi defended the honour of their Seraph friend.

"Okay, seriously, Sora? Is he always this stupid or did he hit himself on the head hard enough when he crash landed wherever he ended up first." Zen mocked.

"Riku! Why are you doing this? This is wrong and you know it is!"

"It seems I'm the only one who cares what happens to Kairi or Lucille. So be it, I'll save them on my own, without your help." Riku summoned a portal of darkness behind him and walked through it.

"Riku! Wait!" Sora tried to chase him but jellyfish Heartless with the jail-like body jumped down from above.

"You can go play with some Heartless for all I care." That was the last thing he said before closing the portal.

"Waaaaak! There's no end to them!" Donald vented out in frustration.

"Get your act together! You're Mickey's royal magician, act like one!" Oswald scolded.

"Hey guuuuys~! We finally found you!" Lucille's voice filled the room.

"Lucille!" Florian cheered happily, a sense of relief washed over him.

Lucille entered the room, riding on a very colourful yet incredibly cute but fat catdog creature, followed by another one, but with someone Sora, Donald and Goofy hadn't seen before.

"Oh no...it's that insufferable witch." Zen groaned and face-palmed, knowing that a headache was probably going to be there later.

"It's the Magnificent Moira Delune to you, greenie." Moira retorted. They both jumped off the two creatures.

Lucille gave the one that carried her a sweet kiss. "Thanks little guy." The creature squeaked with joy before puffing into pink smoke along with the other one.

"Gawsh, what strange little fellas, but they sure are cute!" Goofy commented.

"I summoned them from the realm of dreams so we could get here faster. Not bad timing if I say so myself."

Sora ran over and hugged his sister. "Are you okay? Riku...didn't hurt you did he?"

"Um, no he didn't hurt me at all but..." Lucille shook her head but then she remembered a certain detail that she couldn't get out of her head and her cheeks reddened. "No! Never mind it was nothing, totally unimportant!" Lucille quickly backtracked and tried to push it aside so they could concentrate on the main situation right now. "By the way, was he here just now?" Lucille asked.

"Yeah, and just ran away like a little pussy." Zen scoffed.

"He said something about someone losing their heart to the Heartless and how it can be retrieved or something like that." Oswald explained the best way he could for her.

"I see..." Lucille was deflated to hear this, she was hoping that she'd be able try and talk Riku out of it.

"Damn it, guess we're too late after all." Moira cursed.

"As much as I would like to chat some more, we've got that thing to take care of." Zen pointed to the Heartless.

"Right!" Lucille nodded and summoned the Lux Arma into her hand.

"I bet that jail-looking stomach is the weak spot." Zen guessed as he called his claw into action.

"Any ideas of getting it open?" Oswald asked around for ideas.

"Florian, do you think your chain spell could work?" Lucille clicked.

"Oh! It could, but I need to time it right." Florian nodded, getting an idea what Lucille was probably thinking.

"If it's time you need, then you'll get it." Zen nodded before charging in to get the Heartless' attention, followed by Sora, Donald and Goofy.

"Okay, give us the cue for when your spell is ready and we'll shoot it wide open with magic." Oswald told Florian.

Florian nodded and proceeded to cast the seraphic incantation for it. Lucille and Oswald entered the fray to help the others distract it.

Chi provided back-up support by casting heals when needed.

It was four minutes into the fight when Florian's spell was ready. "Okay! I've got it!"

Zen jumped on to the head of the Heartless, then with his Heartless claw, making it bigger in size, he used to grip the upper part of the Heartless' mouth and pulled it upwards so it's inner sanctum was exposed. "Hey Florian, my arm isn't going to be able to keep it's big mouth open for long, now's a good as time as any!" Zen gave the signal.

Florian threw three groups of shaman paper at three locations, two around its arms and the third one just between the top and bottom halves of it's mouth. "Binding Chains!" Florian activated the spell, causing chains of light to bind and restrained the Heartless from not only moving its arms to attack, but also kept the mouth wide open so Zen didn't have to force it open himself.

"Alright then, ready?" Oswald turned to Lucille.

"You bet, let's do this!" Lucille and Oswald both aimed their weapons together and casted the same spell. "Fire!" The combination of the two same spells caused them to merge into one bigger fireball and rammed it right into the mouth of the creature.

Sora used his Keyblade and gave it the final blow, releasing the heart it kept imprisoned within and thereby vanquishing the Heartless for good.

"Alright, we're an awesome team!" Sora cheered.

"You can say that again." Lucille beamed, fist bumping with her twin.

"I don't ever want to see that monstrosity again." Zen reverted his claw back into his bandaged arm, now that the threat was over.

"Good job guys, you didn't even need little ol' me." Moira grinned. She then got a hanky out and wiped away her crocodile tears. "They grow up so fast~"

"You could have helped somehow you quacky nutcase!" Zen accused.

"Hey!" Donald felt offended by that.

"Hey, I did my good deed of the day, I freed your little princess from her dungeon." Moira smiled mischievously.

"So you're the one who got her out from wherever Riku hid her. Thanks." Sora thanked the witch. "Uh, who are you?"

"Me? I am the Magnificent Moira Delune, my dear Sora~!" Moira grinned as she did her pose whenever she used her full title.

"Don't cha ever get bored with that? Like ever?" Oswald raised an eyebrow.

"Nope! Only I can capture the flair and awesomeness that is me." Moira answered instantly.

"..." Sora blinked, completely speechless.

"She's a little kooky isn't she?" Donald confessed what many of the people in this room thought of Moira.

"She's always like this, I just go with the flow." Lucille shrugged.

Just then, they felt the room of the stomach shake violently.

"Uh oh, you guys better get on your ships now if ya wanna get out of here. But I'm sure you'll be fine~ Toodles~" Moira waved farewell as she vanished in a puff of pink smoke like her dream eaters.

"Hey! Take us with you at least!" Donald cried out.

"C'mon, we better get outta here before Monstro sneezes out all our gummi ships without us in it!" Oswald signalled the others to move.

"Riku! Riku where are you?" Sora tried calling out for Riku despite the room's shaking.

"Sora," Lucille placed a hand on his shoulder. "Will we...have to fight him in the end?" Lucille's quivered.

"I hope not. I just wished I knew why it ended up like this." Sora looked doubtful.

"Well, I'm not giving up. I'm sure if work together, we can knock some sense into that big idiot, and I'm going slap him so good for making us worry about him."

Sora's smile seemed to be renewed and nodded. "Yeah, you're right."

As Sora left the room along with Lucille, she bought her fingers to her lips, then violently shook her head. _'No! Don't get distracted, Lucille! You'll just worry everyone else!'_ She followed the others as fast as she could to catch up.

* * *

Meanwhile on Captain Hook's ship, Riku was looking down on a sleeping Kairi with Maleficent right behind him, weaving more vicious words and lies into him, poisoning his mind further.

"So, Kairi's just a lifeless puppet now?" Riku asked with a pained voice.

"Precisely." Maleficent answered.

"And her heart was..."

"Taken by the Heartless no doubt." She finished his sentence.

"Tell me! What can I do?" Riku turned around to face the evil fairy.

"There are seven maidens of the purest heart. We call them the Princesses of Heart. Gather them together, and a door will open to the hearts of all worlds. Within it lies untold wisdom. There, you will surely find a way to recover Kairi's heart. And perhaps even a way to save Lucille from an ill-fated path. That reminds me, you captured her at one point, but then she escaped."

"Someone must have gotten her out, there's no way she would have broken those binds by herself." Riku shook his head. "I tried to tell her, but..."

"It would seem the Seraph's tendrils have clawed themselves deep within her heart, if you want to save her, you can no longer hesitate, you will have to bring her to the castle so we can cut out the parasite that threatens to eat her heart away entirely."

"What do you mean by entirely?" Riku looked concerned.

"Surely you have known it yourself, the girl's heart is overflowing with light, look as hard as you are able, you will not find even the single sliver of darkness. She is no Princess of Heart, but there is clearly something that attracts her to the Seraphim, they are, after all, the Light's equivalent of the Heartless.

"Then...if all the light gets devoured..."

"It is very likely that she will suffer the same fate as Kairi. She would be a lifeless doll with no heart, only this time, there would be no chance of rescue. She would be the ideal tool for the Seraphim."

"I won't let that happen!" Riku shouted. "I'll save both Kairi and Lucille, even if Lucille hates me by the end of it all, I'd do anything to save her." He couldn't bear the thought of Lucille not being able to laugh, get angry or cry anymore. He would not let her be used like some kind of weapon by those... _parasites_.

Maleficent smiled but there was no warmth, only coldness.

"Now I'll grant you a marvellous gift. The power to control the Heartless!" Maleficent bestowed on Riku the power of darkness. Riku let the green aura flow through his body, letting into his heart. With this new power...he'll be able to protect and save the ones most closest to him now.

"Soon, Kairi, soon. I'll reunite the three of us together again soon, so just wait a little longer." Riku told Kairi, even though she did not move an inch, nor would she ever move until her heart is returned.

Riku looked out through the window. He had hoped to be able to bring Lucille here, but fate allowed her to slip away again, but next time, he won't hesitate, he won't let Lucille go next time. After all, he promised her all those years ago...He would never leave her behind, and he meant it. Next time, he'll bring her with him to Hallow Bastion, cure her finally, then, they would go explore other worlds together, just like they promised.

"I'll find you, Lucille. I'll save you...I promise." Riku swore under the countless stars above, wondering if Lucille was among them right now.

* * *

Back in interspace, Monstro had sneezed out the Gummi Ships of both Sora's ship and the Ortensia.

Gepetto and Pinocchio were offered a ride by Oswald to drop them off at Traverse Town, which they gratefully accepted.

While on route to Traverse Town, Lucille had asked to retire early today and headed to her room.

Leaving a worried foursome behind her door, since Oswald had to drive their vessel to Traverse Town, they left Zen, Florian and Chi in the small living room.

"...I hope Lady Lucille is alright. I wonder what happened during that time she was with Riku?" Chi wondered.

"Maybe Riku's change of character was too extreme even for her." Florian sadly suggested.

"Would make sense, if someone you had known all your life changed overnight, you'd be worried too." Zen could somewhat relate since Aster had lost his memories, meaning he had been forced to build a new identity from scratch. Of course, to Zen, Aster would be Aster no matter what, but there were times that he did miss the days they spent in Radiant Garden together.

"Hey...are...we Seraphim, really just parasites that feed of the light of others?" Florian tightly clutched to his robe.

"You mustn't mind what he said. He's been fed misinformation by the evil fairy, Maleficent." Chi reassured.

"It's not like he's wrong though...in a sense, we do rely too much on our mortal partners to provide light and stability for us. What if...in that sense...some Seraphs had abused their pact and used their partners for their own goals?"

"This has been eating you, hasn't it?" Zen narrowed his eyes with unusual compassion.

"I would never do such a horrible thing to Lucille! But...Seraphim are similar to Heartless in a lot of aspects, that's what scares me the most. Where does the line end between us and them?" Florian shook with a fear that if he asked too much of her, took too much of her heart, which is overflowing in light to begin with, she might break. Florian would die from the sadness alone, never mind the guilt.

"That won't happen." Zen scoffed. Florian looked up to Zen expecting an answer.

He then gave a cocky smile. "Because you're much better than that, and let's face it, you couldn't be that heartless even if you tried. Lucille knows that too and she's oblivious as they come."

Florian puffed his cheeks. "I can't tell if you're comforting me or picking on me."

"But still, perhaps one of us should talk to her. It does not do a young lady's complexion any good to stress too much." Chi looked at Lucille's door.

"I'll try, although I'm certainly not the touchy feely type." Zen got up from where he was sitting and approached the door, he gently knocked on it.

"Who is it?" Lucille's voice was quiet and...could he hear some sniffs coming from her? Was she...crying?

"Hey, it's Zen. Is it alright if I come in?"

"Oh...sure. The door's not locked." Lucille gave him permission and he turned the doorknob as he did so. He looked inside to see the light was not on in the room, he also saw a big lump which he assumed as Lucille, hiding under the covers of the bed.

"...So...I'm not exactly the best at giving comfort to someone, but..." He carefully approached sitting on the edge of the bed and softly patting the lump. "I am here if you need a shoulder to cry on. It's best you let out your tears now, it's no good keeping them locked up like this."

"No...Nothing's wrong." Lucille denied.

"Look, I know what happened with Riku is eating away at you. Trust me, I'm living proof of that." He stared at his bandaged arm. "I don't know what Maleficent has been telling him behind all of our backs, but as much as I loathe to admit it since I absolutely hate that guy, I think he does care about you and Sora still, otherwise he wouldn't have bothered trying to convince you two to join him.

Lucille sniffed and choked a cry in her throat. "I don't want to fight him...I don't want him to fight Sora either. Why did it end up this way...? I wish I had the power to make it right, for it to go back to the way it used to be."

"If you ask me, it's his loss if he doesn't appreciate what he had right in front of him and choosing the word of some stranger over his own friends. I think he'll see the light eventually though, I'm sure it'll take a few punches in the head to get the message across though." Zen tried to joke, but Lucille didn't respond as he hoped.

Zen sighed and was about to get up before he felt a hand reach out and touch his bandaged arm. "Heh, even though I know what lies beneath it, it doesn't feel menacing or scary at all. There's a warmth coming from it."

"If you say so, I'll always see it as a mark of my mistakes, of my failure to protect the people important to me. After the fall of Radiant Garden, and how people started to treat me when they saw my...arm. I found it hard to trust anyone, I thought 'I can't trust anyone but myself', I don't know why, but that mentality struck a cord within me, deep down in my heart, I thought...people can't use or hurt you if you don't think of them as friends and keep people at a distance."

"But...you can trust us. You don't have to be afraid, we'll be by your side, we're friends, right?" Lucille poked her head out of the covers, it confirmed Zen's thoughts, she had been crying, and all over that god damn Riku.

Zen couldn't afford to be sarcastic or indifferent to her now, she needed comfort, and while he sucked at it, he was going to try. "Yeah, we're friends. And as you know, being the thorny person that I am, I don't let people in usually, but somehow even an idiot island girl like you managed to get inside. Man I'm slacking."

Lucille laughed softly. "Oh I'm so flattered."

"Now you're beginning to sound like Aster. Please don't become another Aster. One of him is bad enough."

The two of them shared a laugh, she slowly crawled out of hiding and hid her face in his shoulder. "Is it okay...for me to just stay like this for a bit?"

"Sure..." Zen allowed her to do just that. He then heard her sniff a few more times and started to sob uncontrollably, unable to stop them from falling anymore. Zen didn't say anything and just let her use his shoulder as something to cry into, warm tears soaking into the fabric.

 _'I don't care who you are Riku...But I'll **never** forgive you for toying with her heart like this.'_ Zen swore darkly, he won't kill the jerk, but he'd definitely knock him down a peg or two when he did see him again.

* * *

Omg, I finally finished this. I literally spent all yesterday night trying to finish this. x.x

Thank you everyone who has reviewed, favorited, followed the story so far. =D

Also just a little update note: A special someone from the reviews has started doing some fan art for this story, and I would like to thank them from very bottom of my heart. Their artwork is amazing too! This person is Chirithy564, and I would like to ensure their get as much credit and exposure as possible.

Go to Devianart, search up Chirithy564 and look them up. Please be sure to drop by when you get the chance to view their artwork. =3

Anyway, next up is Atlantica! What awaits them there? Who knows? :3

Anyway, I'm going to go and collapse for half a day now before continuing to the next chapter. XD

Until next time, happy reading everyone! Moogle Empress out!

Moogle: Kupo!


	13. Episode 13: Secret Of The Ocean

Heya everyone. Here with chapter 13!

As you might have noticed I've recently changed one of the categories since I felt while romance is definitely still a part of all this, it hasn't been at the forefront like the Adventure genre has been, I switched it to Fantasy since we've seen more or that than anything else. XD

Anyways, I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far and hope you continue to read as the story continues on. ^-^

Please enjoy the chapter! =D

* * *

 **Episode 13: Secret of the Ocean**

* * *

After Lucille and her friends dropped off Geppetto and Pinocchio off on Traverse Town, they ventured back out into the interspace, it didn't take long to find a new world, although it was a bit odd.

"Wait, this is world completely underwater?" Zen asked Oswald.

"Apparently so, according to the Star Chart, this is world called Atlantica." Oswald answered, glancing at the chart he had in his hands.

"How do we even land here? We'll drown!" Lucille shivered, her experience from seven years still felt fresh to her, especially if it involved going underwater. She knew she'd have to overcome it someday, but just looking at the world being under water made her hands start to sweat from apprehension and dread.

"You okay there? You look really pale." Oswald had a concerned look when he saw just how white her face turned.

"Um, Lucille has a fear being underwater." Florian revealed to the rabbit.

"Why didn't you say something before?" Oswald's ears perked.

"I...didn't think it was that important at the time. I-I can do this! I want to overcome my fear, I just need...like a few minutes, maybe an hour?" Lucille bravely confessed.

"Ya sure you want to force that on yourself?" Oswald asked.

"I can't hide behind it forever, what if we come across other worlds later that involves diving underneath the water? I'd just be a burden if I remain like this. Sooo...I'm going to do this."

"Don't worry, Lady Lucille. I have us covered. With my transformation spell, we'll be breathing like the fish that dwell there, quite literally. You will hardly notice that you are under the water." Chi did her best to reassure Lucille.

"Okay then, initiating submarine mode, next stop, Atlantica." Oswald pulled a level that allowed the ship to change into a more aquatic mode of vessel for an easier landing.

"Whoa, this is so cool! I didn't know the Ortensia had different modes!" Lucille exclaimed joyfully.

"To be honest, I didn't either." Zen admitted.

"This is my idea." Oswald winked. "I'm an inventor in my free time when I'm not saving the day with the Keyblade, remember?"

"This was your idea? Huh, that's a twist." Zen teased.

Oswald just gave an annoyed look but shrugged it off. "Okay, buckle up kiddos, we're diving in!" Oswald steered the Gummi Ship to descend into the new world that awaited them.

* * *

They found themselves transported into an odd location, it looked like a enclosed grotto, Lucille was the first to panic when she realized she was under the water, trying to cover her mouth to prevent any air escaping, but she was unable to hold it in and was forced to let out some air bubbles, much to her surprise, she wasn't drowning at all. She looked down to see she had a light blue mermaid tail with pale pink fanged seashells covering her chest.

"Whoa! Chi's magic worked! This is so cool~!" Lucille twirled around as she tried to look at her new form and also learning how to actually swim with a tail instead of legs.

"Is the hairball trying to imply something with this form?" Zen on the other hand did not seem to pleased as he ended up with a shark tail, shirtless with nothing but a shark tooth necklace around him and his bandages still covering the arm that held his Heartless Claw.

"I just cast the spell, it is the transformation spell that decides what form you take, Zen." Chi explained.

"So...why are you a seahorse?" Zen teased as he poked the changed form of the Chirithy.

"Like I said, the magic of the spell decides what we change into, apparently it decided a seahorse form would be most appropriate." Chi explained.

"Well, I don't think the forms we got are too bad, it'll make it easier for us to blend in." Oswald grinned confidently, he was changed into a turtle for some bizarre reason.

"Hey, where's Flo? I can't see him.

"Uh, I'm over here." Florian revealed himself, turning out that the magic turned him into having a dolphin tail.

"Oh...my...god...! You look so precious like that!" Lucille squealed in delight.

"Oy, you are such a girl sometimes." Zen rolled his eyes.

"I **am** a girl." Lucille countered, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Would have fooled me, I could mistake you as a boy with the way you act sometimes." Zen teased mischievously.

"Grrrr...Get over here!" She popped a vein, shook her fist at the greenette and started to chase after him around the grotto.

"Good grief, they can act like little kids at times." Oswald shook his head at their antics.

Florian looked like he would die of embarrassment.

"Aw c'mon Florian, being a dolphin isn't so bad. You could have ended up as worse things, like a sea slug or something." Oswald tried to make the Seraph feel better.

"It's not that...I just feel...exposed." Florian admitted, he was not used to wearing such little clothing, in fact, he felt naked despite this was considered the norm in this world.

"I take it you Seraphim folk don't go shopping for new clothes then." Oswald snickered.

"Well...no. Seraph bodies work differently from mortals." Florian answered honestly. "Although, I wonder if it is different if you have a pact partner? I mean I can eat food from this realm as a luxury but since I became bound to Lucille, I feel hunger like mortals can now."

Oswald nodded. "Makes sense, your hearts are intertwined and everything."

"Anyway...I wonder where we are...and look at all this amazing stuff! I've never seen so many trinkets in my life!" Florian became entranced when he saw the various unique pieces of trinkets and items often used by the mortals in the Realm of Light.

"Hey, Lucille! What's this thing?" Florian called out to Lucille and asked in child-like curiosity about a big circle blue sphere on a curved wooden handle and attached to a circular base on the bottom. It was also tilted sideward on an axis.

Lucille stopped chasing after Zen when she heard Florian's call to him. Swimming over, she smiled when she saw the child-like joy on Florian's face.

"That's called globe, it's basically like a map, but they've shaped into a sphere since most people think the world is round."

"Really?! So does that mean even the world of Destiny Islands was round too?" Florian inquisitively asked.

"Maybe, I don't think anyone really knows since no one leaves our Islands. There was this one dude who did, but no one ever heard from him again since then. This happened way before even my parents were born though so it was probably something the grown ups made up to scare us from ever leaving."

"Oooh..." Florian took in every detail of Lucille's explanation, he then saw what looked like small box that was open, inside it was a small wooden figure of two people dancing. "What's this?"

"That's a music box, if you wind it up, it'll play music." Lucille answered, she even demonstrated when she turned the wind up key and the figure on top spin around while playing a small tune.

"Wow, that's so cool!" Florian's eyes lit up at the music box playing.

They jumped when they heard the noise of a boulder being moved, meaning someone was coming inside, probably the owner of this grotto.

"Uh oh, quick, hide!"

"Like _where_ exactly?" Zen sarcastically noted, motioning his hand that there was no place that could hide them at all.

They had no time to react at all, as they came face to face with a red-haired Mermaid, followed by a crab and a yellow and blue fish.

She gasped in surprise, Lucille couldn't blame her, they were probably in her grotto, so they were in every sense of the word, intruders.

"I'm very sorry, Miss! It's not what it looks like!" Lucille tried to defend.

"You! what are ya doing here? How did ya found out about dis place?" The crab pointed a claw at them.

"Um...we..." Lucille couldn't think of anything.

"Hmmm...Oh wait a minute...Are you related to Sora by any chance?" The Mermaid smiled hopefully.

It was Lucille's turn to gasp. "You know my brother?! Sora was here too?"

"I thought so! You both look so alike!" The mermaid brought her hands together and smiled joyfully.

Lucille felt like crying on the inside. _'Ah, the curse of being identical twins, I can never escape it.'_ She mentally lamented.

"So much for protecting the world order." Zen rolled his eyes.

"So do you guys know him?" Oswald asked.

"Oh, he and his friends helped us in a big way, not long ago. Let me introduce myself, my name is-" The red-haired mermaid started.

"Please, allow me," The crab jumped in. "You see before you, da youngest daughter of the Ruler of the Seas himself, Princess Ariel."

"Oh Sebastian." Ariel sighed in annoyance.

"You're a princess? I'm so sorry, I was talking so casually to you too!" Lucille panicked.

"Oh please, pay no mind to Sebastian. I don't mind it at all." Ariel shook her head.

"Well, my name is Lucille, Ariel, nice to meet you. Um, anyway, how did my brother help you guys?" Lucille scratched her cheek in nervousness.

"They stopped Ursula from taking over the seas when she tried using Daddy's trident." Ariel answered.

"Trident?"

"It is da royal family's most precious heirloom, it holds the power of all the seas."

"Who's Ursula exactly though?" Zen asked.

"She's an evil sea witch man! She was responsible for all those dark creatures coming from her own grotto." Sebastian told them.

"I see...So she must have been connected to Maleficent somehow." Oswald quietly noted.

"Is she still around?" Zen pressed.

Ariel shook her head. "We defeated her, I don't think she'll be hurting anyone again."

"Well that's good." Lucille smiled.

"And what about the Keyhole, did he remember to seal it?" Oswald explained.

"Oh, that big key thing he was carrying? Yes, apparently my grotto hide the location of this keyhole." Ariel told them.

"That must have been why we ended up in this grotto when we entered this world." Oswald figured.

"So if a keyhole has been sealed away, anyone else who visits gets dropped off at the location?" Lucille asked to confirm.

"It would explain why we ended up inside this grotto instead of elsewhere." Chi landed on Lucille's head.

"What an odd little creature, it doesn't even have fins!" Ariel looked entranced by Chi.

"Miss Ariel, you have a lot of amazing things in this grotto!" Florian complimented.

Turns out Ariel could see Florian because she turned to face the Seraph, but Flounder and Sebastian couldn't, so they only have weird looks to each other when they couldn't see who Ariel was talking to. "Heh heh, thank you. I've been collecting all these wondrous things from the surface, I bet there are so many different worlds out there. I wish I could see them." Ariel sighed dreamily.

"You remind me of myself and my friends, we wanted to leave our island to explore other worlds too. I...just wish..."

"Hm?"

"No, never mind." Lucille shook her head. "Either way, I'm still hoping for the day that we'll all be together again, and we'll finally fulfil that promise we made to each other."

"Did you get separated from them? I hope you find them soon, don't lose hope. I'm not giving up on my dream either." Ariel smiled and took hold of Lucille's hands.

Lucille smiled back. "Thanks Ariel."

"Ooh, what's this thing?" Florian picked up what looked like a weathered old map.

"That's...a treasure map?" Lucille blinked in realization.

"Oh, I found that on a ship that sunk near here. There's still a lot of treasures there I've yet to pick up." Ariel answered.

"Hmmm...Say Ariel? Where's this ship exactly? You see, we're looking for relics ourselves, anything that could help us." Oswald explained.

"Oh! So you are interested in finding things from other worlds too! In that case, let's go, I'll take you to the ship." Ariel beamed.

"Ariel! King Triton told you to remain near da palace!" Sebastian was against it.

"Oh, Daddy just doesn't understand, it's not like I'm going to surface...even though I want to." Ariel told off the crab, then added the last part quietly.

"Don't worry Sebastian, we're really good at fighting, we can protect her." Lucille encouraged.

"Might as well since came all this way." Zen shrugged.

"It'll be fun! Let's do it!" Lucille lit up at the thought of a treasure hunt.

"Doesn't take much to excite you, does it?" Oswald shrugged.

"Alright then, follow me!" Ariel beamed and guided them out of the grotto and towards the location of the shipwreck. Ariel managed to get the names of the rest of Lucille's friends from Lucille herself on the way to their destination.

* * *

Arriving at the large clearing where an aging and slowly disintegrating shipwreck laid in its final resting place.

"Whoa! That ship is huge!" Lucille was the first to comment.

"Why do I get the feeling this is a perfect place to get ambushed?" Zen was sceptical.

"Oh we'll be fine, this place has been quiet since those creatures disappeared." Ariel reassured.

"I dunno, Ariel...Maybe Mr. Zen is right." Flounder swam behind Ariel's back to hide.

"Well...I don't see anything dangerous, so I'm sure it'll be okay!" Lucille scanned the area and did not see anyone or anything that looked like a threat to them.

"Island girl, you **attract** danger like a magnet." Zen scoffed.

Lucille glared. "Would a little positivity kill you?"

"Still, keep your eyes open and don't drop your guard. You never know what could sneak up behind us." Oswald instructed them.

Taking Oswald's words to heart, they swam into the clearing, all the while watching for anything that might decide to pounce on them while exploring. Entering inside the shipwreck, it didn't take long for Florian to get distracted by all the interesting objects that he never saw before.

"What's this thing, Lucille?" Florian picked up a medium sized circular object with two needles and markings that had four letters, each pointing in a different direction.

"That's a compass, a lot of sailors on our islands use them all the time, it helps to navigate them at sea, on very clear nights though, they would also use the stars to guide them instead." Lucille explained.

"Wow..."

"Incredible, I didn't know you knew so much about all these surface objects. You remind me of Scuttle!" Ariel praised.

"Scuttle?"

"He's a seagull from the surface who knows a bunch of human stuff." Flounder explained.

"Oh I see." Lucille blinked. _'Seagulls can talk in this world? Then again I did see a talking doorknob in Wonderland so I shouldn't be surprised.'_

As Ariel and Flounder went to another side of the ship, Florian swam up to Lucille. "Is it okay if I keep this?" Florian looked up to Lucille.

"Sure, I don't think anyone here will be missing it." Lucille winked. Florian looked overjoyed kept the compass close.

"Lord Florian seems to have a fascination with items from the Realm of Light, why is that, Lady Lucille?" Chi wondered thoughtfully.

"Hmm, I don't know, maybe he can't interact with things from our realm if they're not in a Seraphim pact with someone?" Lucille guessed.

"It is possible, after all, they cannot maintain their physical form this realm without a vessel, lest they leave themselves vulnerable to corruption." Chi nodded in understanding.

Just they continued their search, they heard Florian and Chi cry out in fear.

"Flo! Chi!" She sped up her swimming along with the others to return outside the ship only to find Chi and Florian were being chased by a giant shark.

"Holy-! That's a huge shark!" Lucille cried out.

"We have to help them!" Ariel bravely swam upwards, followed by Lucille.

Sebastian and Flounder were busy hiding on the stairs while the Zen and Oswald went after the girls, Oswald getting his keyblade out ready.

Florian kept hold of Chi while he swam as fast he could from the shark, thankfully Ariel and Lucille arrived on the scene.

"Lucille! Ariel!" Florian felt washed in relief.

"Please be careful you two! That shark is a vicious thing!" Chi warned them.

The shark proceeded to lunge at them, thankfully Ariel and Lucille dodged out of the way. Ariel made a powerful slap of her tail at the shark, causing it to tumble for a bit before it rebalanced and tried to attack them, only to get swiped at by Oswald's Keyblade and Zen's claw arm.

Lucille summoned the Lux Arma into her hand and casted a thunder spell on the vicious creature. "Thunder!"

The shark was getting angry, it saw Oswald and lunged straight for him.

"Oswald, watch out!" Lucille called out to him.

Oswald had no time to react, so he instinctively withdrew into the turtle shell just as the shark opened it's huge jaw and closed it.

"OSWALD!" Lucille and Zen yelled out in horror.

CRACK!

The shark's teeth ended up shattering when made contact with Oswald's impressively harder than diamond's shell. Oswald's eyes could be poking through while still inside his shell. "Gosh." That was the only thing Oswald could say.

The shark whimpered releasing Oswald and swimming away in self-pity for itself.

"...Ahahahaha...that's...one way of protecting yourself from getting eaten." Lucille laughed sheepishly.

Oswald came out of his shell (literally) and gave a sigh of relief. "Whew, for a minute I thought was a dead rabbit for sure. That took me completely off-guard."

"Damn it, rabbit! You lecture about us staying cautious and you're the one almost ended up almost become shark bait! Don't scare us like that." Zen yelled at the rabbit.

Oswald blinked in surprise before a smile crept on his face. "Is that your way of saying that you care about me?"

"...Don't count on it. I just don't want us to lose our only gummi ship pilot, otherwise we'd have island girl driving the ship, then we'd all be doomed." Zen scoffed and swam a distance away.

Lucille winked and whispered to Oswald. "He cares."

"Heh heh. I know." Oswald winked back.

"I'm sorry, Lucille. I dropped the compass while we were being chased." Florian apologised.

"Aw, don't worry. I'm sure we'll find it, it must have landed in the sand somewhere." Lucille comforted him.

"Why was it chasing you though Flo?" Lucille asked.

"It wasn't me, it was Chi that it was trying to catch." Florian answered.

"I was trying to outrun him but he was too fast, Lord Florian saw me and took me into his arms and used his own speed to try and outrun it. Thank you, Lord Florian. I would have been done for."

Florian smiled and shook his head. "It's good no one got hurt though, that shark was horrible."

"You're telling me. In any case, I'd say we try and find this compass, don't you?" Oswald agreed.

"Why don't you show us where the shark appeared, then we can search from there." Ariel told him.

"Okay." Florian nodded and showed them the location.

It wasn't far from the shipwreck but there was a long ravine that looked very deep. "I wonder if it fell down there. Let's find out!" Ariel started to swim down but Lucille seemed to have froze in fear of something.

"Lucille, why the slow down?" Oswald asked.

"It's okay Lucille, you're not going to drown, you're not going to drown." Lucille had been trying to calm herself and give herself courage. She had been paralyzed by her fear.

"Is something wrong?" Ariel asked with concern as she swam back.

"Ah, Lucille had a bad experience in the past involving deep water." Florian bluffed.

"Oh, I see." Ariel came closer and gently touched Lucille's shoulder, making her stop shivering to look up at the red-haired Princess. "It's okay to be afraid, but so long as you have your friends right by your side to give you courage, you'll be able to conquer any fear." Ariel encouraged. "Friends give you strength when you need it after all." Ariel then finished.

"I never expected that from you, Princess." Zen was surprised by Ariel's wisdom.

"Well, it actually wasn't me. It was Goofy." Ariel smiled.

"GOOFY?!" Oswald cried out in pure shock. "You mean the goof can actually give out good advice?"

"Heh, Goofy did huh." Lucille looked up, feeling a little more confident than she did before. "You know, I think he's right. I haven't really thought about my fear before now because I hadn't had time to sink in the fact I was actually under the ocean. I don't think I would ever realize just how beautiful the ocean could be from underneath the waves. I'll be okay. I'll have you guys to help me if I freak out at any moment right?" Lucille smiled.

"Of course. We're pals after all." Oswald nodded with pride.

"Ariel! I think we found it!" Flounder called out from below.

"Oh, looks like they might have found the compass, let's go." Ariel returned to swimming downwards.

With her friends swimming right beside her, Lucille followed suit.

* * *

They found themselves in what looked like a underwater cave at the bottom of the ravine.

"That's quite a dark looking cave." Lucille commented.

"Allow me, Lady Lucille." Chi casted a small ball of light to guide them in the cave.

"Huh, didn't know you could do that." Oswald faced the Chirithy.

"At least we can see where we're going now." Florian responded to the rabbit.

"Oh, there it is!" Lucille swam further into the cave and picked up the misplaced compass.

"Thank goodness, but how did fall all the way into this cave?" Florian wondered as he swam next to the brunette.

"Maybe in the panic with that shark, you didn't realize you were above the ravine." Zen suggested.

"It doesn't look damaged, that's a relief." Ariel checked.

"I've been meaning to ask, who is dis Florian? I can't see him at all." Sebastian finally asked.

"What? But...I can clearly see him right here!" Ariel looked shocked at this discovery.

"Yeah, I can't see him either Ariel, he isn't a ghost is he?!" Flounder asked meekly.

"How do we explain this...?" Lucille asked, turning to Florian who looked just as troubled.

It was then that they saw something very unusual that they'd never expected to see, the compass started to glow.

"Uhhh...I'm pretty sure most compasses don't do that." Lucille blinked.

"Why is it glowing now? It wasn't acting this weird when Florian found it." Zen asked in confusion.

"Could there be something hidden inside this cave that it's resonating to?" Oswald questioned as he pondered carefully.

"Let's go find out!" Ariel swam further into the cave.

"Ariel! Wait! Don't go in there alone! Quick everyone, after her!" Sebastian panicked and tried to swim as fast as he could after the Princess along with Flounder.

"...Could it be that the compass is actually..." Florian looked deep in thought about something but then shook his head. "No, it couldn't be that...could it?"

"We better catch up, no telling what could be hiding in here." Zen told the others.

"I certainly hope it's not another shark." Chi whimpered.

Everyone nodded in agreement and swam further into the cave.

* * *

They eventually came to what looked like a dead-end.

"Oh no, it doesn't look like we can't go in any further." Ariel looked disappointed.

The compass, however, glowed even brighter the closer they got to the end of the tunnel. "Something doesn't add up, why is this thing still reacting?" Oswald questioned about the still glowing compass.

"Hmm...Flo? Do you think you know?" Lucille gave the compass over to the small seraph.

Florian looked around closely and noticed something hidden behind the algae moss. He pulled and scratched the algae away to see there was a secret switch hidden very cleverly among the small rocks that surrounded it, when he pushed it, the cave shook a bit, making everyone jump slightly by the sudden movement, they saw the boulder that acted as the dead-end moved away sideward, revealing a secret room inside.

The compass glowed only more brighter now that the boulder was out of the way.

"So, that crystal crown was a key to this tunnel this whole time...but how did it end up on that ship?" Oswald felt more confused than before.

Florian, using the compass in his hands, he carefully entered inside the room, which elicited a gasp from him.

"Flo? What's wrong?" Lucille swam right in after in concern. She was just as surprised as Florian at what they saw. The others entered as well, surprised at what they found as well.

A lone treasure chest that was encased in a bubble of light, as if protecting it from anyone that dare open it.

"It's just as I thought...the compass...the hidden disguised switch...they were all created by a Seraph who left them here on purpose..." Florian confessed.

"No way, you're saying someone expected us to come here?" Oswald blinked.

"How do you know this Florian?" Zen asked.

"The bubble protecting the chest, its the exact same one we saw protecting Luma. It's a seraphic arte."

"I see...but why hide it here and put so much effort into keeping it safe?" Zen was still confused.

"That I really don't know. One's thing for sure, this compass was enhanced through Seraphic forging, the same process that we used to create the Lux Arma." Florian shook his head.

"That's right, even this weapon of mine was just a wooden sword until Florian changed its form into an actual weapon." Lucille remembered, summoning the weapon into her hand as she did so.

Ariel didn't really understand what they were talking about, her main interest was on the chest. Being the ever curious girl, she approached it and tried to open it, but the bubble of light that protected the chest pushed her back.

"Ariel! Are you okay?" Lucille caught her before Ariel could ram into a cave wall.

"Yeah, thanks. That was so odd though, why did it push me away?" Ariel thanked the brunette then wondered.

"Guess it won't let us open the chest until we get rid of that bubble." Oswald confirmed.

"Anyone specializes in seraphic artes?" Zen glanced at Florian.

"Um...well...to be honest, I think this is beyond my level." Florian admitted.

"I'm sure there's some way we can remove it." Lucille swam closer to it, trying to think of a way to remove that bubble.

Florian looked at the compass in his hands and then back at the chest. If it guided them here then perhaps...An idea soon formed in his head of what could undo the seraphic arte.

"I think I have an idea." Florian approached and released the compass near the bubble, the object transformed into golden sparkles upon contact with the bubble of light, within a second, the bubble disappeared, leaving the chest now free of any enchantment.

"The compass was a key all along? This guy clearly went all out to secure whatever is inside here." Oswald whistled.

"If they went that far to disguise it, yeah, there's clearly something important inside there."

"Florian, you really liked that compass." Lucille looked sad.

"It's alright." Florian tried to reassure her, but she could tell that he was sad that he could no longer keep it.

Not letting this chance slip them by, she opened the chest to reveal the contents. There only a lone book that appeared very similar to the one that the Sultan gave them back in Agrabah. Alas, that was the only treasure to be found in there.

"Chi? Isn't this the same book that we were given in Agrabah?" She showed the Chirithy the book.

"G-Goodness! It's another Book of Prophecies! Why would it be at the bottom of the sea in this world?" Chi gasped in realization.

"Another one? I'm beginning to get the impression that someone **really** didn't want people to find these books. The first one was in the hands of a royal family, and now this one was hidden away at the bottom of an ocean." Oswald tried to figure out a connection between the two locations.

"Was that everything that was in the chest?" Zen asked.

"Seems that way, maybe the person who left this copy of the Book of Prophecies didn't want it to fall into the wrong hands." Lucille nodded.

"I'm getting the impression that was their intention. Why are these books so important that they need such protection though?" Zen questioned, thinking deeply of a possible reason for hiding the book down all the way down here in this world. There was so many questions but no answers.

"That is now two out of the five copies in our possession, how did these tomes even survive after the Keyblade War?" Chi seemed very confused as to what this all meant.

Lucille then remembered Ariel and her two fish friends were still with them. "Oh, sorry Ariel! Hearing us go on and on about stuff like that."

Ariel shook her head. "It's okay, it's amazing that we were able to find such a treasure. We better head back to the grotto, after a shark attack, it's never a good idea to stay too long."

"Alright, let's go." Lucille nodded, with their new find in tow, they hurried back out of the cave. Chi was a bit slower than the others as her concerns started to grow on her. "Who would go to such lengths to preserve and protect these tomes and why? Master Ava and the other Foretellers are gone..." Shaking her head, she swam after the others.

* * *

Back at the Ariel's grotto, after spending some more time with the Mermaid Princess, it was time to leave.

"Do you have to go?"

"Yeah, I've got friends waiting for me. And someone needs to keep Sora from slacking off." Lucille nodded with a smile. "We'll definitely come back though to visit." She then added.

"Well I have to say, it's nice to not worry about Heartless for a change, but I suppose that's what happens when a keyhole is sealed away." Oswald admitted.

"I didn't think about this until now, but isn't Ariel a Princess? Why hasn't she been kidnapped yet by Maleficent or her cronies? I have a suspicion that Ursula was one of her allies." Zen whispered to Oswald.

"Guess Ariel wasn't one of the seven they were looking for." Oswald shrugged.

"When you come back, tell me about all those other worlds that you've seen. I'd love to hear about it." Ariel asked of Lucille.

"Sure, that's a promise." Lucille promised.

They bided farewell to their friends and headed back to the Gummi Ship, Chi reversed the magic, allowing them to return to their original clothes and possess legs again.

"Never thought I'd be so relieved to have legs again." Lucille sighed in relief.

"I think ya did pretty well, considering your fear of being under water." Oswald complimented.

"Heh, I'm actually surprised at myself." Lucille laughed nervously. "Oh yeah! Flo, Ariel wanted me to give you this." Lucille took out what looked like a normal compass.

"A compass?" He blinked in surprise at the gift.

"I felt kinda bad that you ended up losing that compass with it being the key to that chest. So I asked Ariel if she had something similar in her collection. Turns out she's quite an avid collector as she had like ten different compasses." Lucille explained.

"...You sure it was okay with her?"

"I asked her myself, she said 'from one admirer of surface treasures to another'." Lucille recited and winked.

"Heh, thank you, Lucille. I'll have to thank Ariel when we visit next time too!" Florian beamed brightly, he would treasure it dearly.

"Oh definitely, I want to come back here again someday." Lucille agreed.

"For someone who has a fear of going under water, you're incredibly eager to come back to this world." Zen noted.

"I think I'm getting better." Lucille admitted. "Guess it just helped that you guys were with me, I'd probably flip out if I had been by myself."

"Who knows? Maybe fate will lead us back here again, you just never know." Oswald told them. "Too bad we didn't find any Lux Fragments but we did find that second book of prophecies or whatever the Chirithy calls it." Oswald jumped into his pilot seat and proceeded to press buttons and switches to start up the Ortensia.

"Are these books a big deal, Chi? You seem shocked to see them in one piece." Lucille lifted up the book they had found in that underwater cavern.

"It is like I said, within the pages tells of multiple prophecies that all came to pass, all the way up to the Keyblade War." Chi explained.

"Every one of these prophecies turned out true? Are there any of them that are left unfulfilled?" Zen raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"That...I really don't know. Master Ava never went into details about it. She often talked about the last page that foreshadowed the coming of the Keyblade War. Master Ava and the other Foretellers tried their best in their own ways to prevent the war from coming to pass, but..."

"It happened anyway, didn't it?" Lucille was saddened at the thought of so many lives taken so senselessly.

"Here's what's been bugging me about that War. I've often heard about it from Master Yen Sid but one question always goes unanswered." Oswald turned his head slightly to face the Chirithy. "What caused it in the first place? What drove people to actually clash keyblades against their fellow weilders like that?"

"Hm...I'm pretty sure that _X_ -blade was the source of the chaos."

"Oh yeah, you told us about this keyblade before. It was a really powerful Keyblade that could open the doors to Kingdom Hearts, right?"

"Exactly, Lady Lucille. I'm so happy you remembered." Chi sniffed with pride.

"So it's like Master Yen Sid said, man, my predecessors were real morons." Oswald scoffed.

"Please do not think too badly of your fellow wielders. While it is true that most failed to keep their balance of light and dark in check, not all of them were bad people. Why, I knew quite a few wielders who were very nice. Unfortunately, even those who didn't even want any part in the war ended up getting dragged in due to their faction loyalty."

"That's so awful..." Lucille grimaced.

"They couldn't run away?" Zen pressed.

"Of course not, there was nowhere else to run." Chi shook her head sadly.

"It just seems like a pointless waste of life." Zen frowned.

"Yeah..." Lucille nodded in agreement.

"That is why these books are so important, they carry important contents that could rewrite the fate of worlds! It is important that no evil hand ever lay their hands on them." Chi finalized.

"The power to rewrite the fate of worlds...that sounds way too heavy of a power to be wield by anyone." Florian shivered at the thought.

"I had honestly thought they had all ended up being lost to the depths of darkness when the old world was swallowed up. To see two of them survive such a disaster, it can't be just a miracle."

"So you think a Seraph went out of their way to gather the tomes that did survive and hid them away to make sure no one could abuse them?" Lucille guessed.

"It would seem so, Lord Florian confirmed that it was seraphic arte, and only Seraphim and their pact partners can use them." Chi nodded.

"But who would do that? I thought most Seraphim avoided mortals after the Keyblade War, because you know, they did lose a huge number of their own kind thanks to the pact partners they were bound to turning and got consumed by the darkness as well." Zen voiced another question.

"Indeed, I would not imagine they would be sympathetic with people after that. It left a very deep rift between the Seraphim and the mortals that lives in the Realm of Light." Chi agreed, but that still leaves the question of who it was that salvaged these books and hid them away.

"..." Florian really had no idea who it could have been either. It certainly couldn't have been Lord Yggdrasil even though he was one of the only few Seraphs to have lived to seen the war happen.

"Well, we can ponder this another time. We need to get out of this world and make our way to a new one." Oswald decided to try and get them off the topic by starting up the engines.

"Right, still, it's good to know that my brother is doing okay, it's amazing just how far he's come since we were thrown off our islands. He's really gotten stronger." Lucille smiled at the thought of her twin brother. "Still, I'd WISH people stop saying I look exactly like him! Do I really look that much like a boy?" She then pouted.

"Well..."

"If you say yes, I'm going to throw this book at you, Zen!" She threatened with book in hand.

"Lady Lucille! Please! Think of the book! It's a precious relic!" Chi cried out in panic.

"They really are so innocent." Oswald chuckled as he guided the Ortensia out of the water world of Atlantica and back into interspace to continue their journey.

* * *

Done! ^-^

I apologise if this chapter seems a little weaker, writing this one turned out to be tougher than I thought. I wanted to try and avoid them from meeting Sora and his friends this chapter since they already bumped into each other two times before, and I thought it might get a bit repeated if I did it again with this one, even though it would have made writing this chapter less annoying to write. XD

So I decided for the group to arrive in this world after Sora and his friends defeated Ursula. Thankfully, it's finally done. So now I can work on the next chapter that should go a bit more smoothly.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed or favorited the story so far. It's refreshing to see it that people read it. =3

Now for review corner~

 **Chirithy564:** Thank you very much for your review! I hope you like this chapter for Atlantica, sorry if it seems a bit weaker than usual. =3 Next chapter should be better quality, hopefully. And no worries at all, let your imagination go forth and flourish. I hope you continue to enjoy the story. =D

 **Ctran:** Thank you very much for your review! And yes, I agree, Kingdom Hearts is literally Disney's answer to Star Wars before they earned the rights to Star Wars itself. XD Okay maybe that's an exaggeration but still. =P

Anyway, yeah, I'm glad I finally got around to revealing Yggdrasil and Kuroshi, I hope to add more scenes with them in the chapters ahead to help flesh them out more, especially with Yggdrasil. I was going to add a scene with them in this chapter but I decided against it, maybe I'll add a scene with them in the next chapter. I hope you continue to enjoy the story. =D

 **Guest (I'm assuming Gry21 but if not, sorry. X3):** Thank you very much for your review. And thank you for your input, I do admit that the pairing sounds really fun to do, especially given how it's all going to go down later. XD I'll see what others think though before making an official decision, might decide to play with the triangle idea for a bit longer. =3

I like your suggestions, although I had already made a semi-blueprint in my mind of how those particular chapters are going to play out, but while I won't give anything away, let's say you are thinking along the right lines of what I plan to do. =3 *insert evil Maleficent laugh here*

I hope you continue to enjoy the story! =D

Now that review corner is done, it's onwards and upwards with chapter 14, I've decided to do the same thing the manga did and skip Halloween Town, otherwise I'll end up running into the same problems I had with this chapter.

However, I do have something else in mind before Captain Hook's ship. =3

Here's a hint: It involves the Book of Prophecies (or Tome of Prophecy) whatever SE are calling it these days. XD

Until next chapter, happy reading and see you all in the next chapter! =D

Moogle Empress out!

Moogle: Kupo!


	14. Episode 14: The Tale of Two Princes

Heya guys, been a while since the last chapter huh? There's a reason for that. XD

So I had these grand ideas about what I wanted to do with this chapter involving the Book of Prophecies but the further I went into this chapter, I found it that might actually start to make the story more confusing at this point in the chronology order of the games. So in the end I decided to dial back on my original idea and wait until we reach the DDD saga before touching on the books again, plus they would make more sense by that point. =P

But don't worry, I already have a rough blueprint in my head of how these next few chapters should play out. So they should be more easier to write.

Just one more thing to add, I've noticed that I left out Ion quite a bit throughout this entire fan fic! XD So I wanted to try and flesh his story out a little in the coming chapters. Would you prefer it in it's own chapter in this story? Or would you prefer it as a side story that I'll get making alongside the future fan fics?

Anyway, that's everything I wanted to say. Thank you for all your support so far guys and I humbly apologise for the long wait. =3

With that said, Please enjoy!

* * *

 **Episode 14: The Tale of Two Princes**

* * *

Back on the Ortensia, Oswald was busy navigating across the interspace, while Lucille was curiously reading through carefully one of the tomes that they had found during their journey so far, Florian had decided help Oswald in the cockpit, which she was more than happy for Florian to do. While she cared for her little friend dearly, it was nice to have some privacy again, at least for a short while.

"So curiosity got the better of you as well?" Zen's voice entered the room, making the brunette jump up in shock from the surprise.

"Zen? Wait, that's the other one we were given by the Sultan in Agrabah, right?" Lucille turned to face the green-haired boy, who was holding the other book of prophecies under his arm.

"Yeah, no matter how hard I try to distract myself, I can't escape the feeling that I've seen this book before, I know it." Zen confessed as he sat down next to Lucille, placing the book down on the table, it looked like he had already gone through quite a lot of pages.

"I have that weird case of deja vu too...I don't understand why though, I'm pretty sure I've never seen a book like this in my life, and I've read plenty!" Lucille admitted.

"This language, it strikes you as familiar to you though, right?"

Lucille simply nodded.

"This can't be just a mere coincidence. There's something about this book." Zen frowned at the book, hoping that if he stared hard enough something would trigger in his mind.

"I did notice something weird, did you know that there's a few blank pages in this?" Lucille flipped to one of those said pages that was completely devoid of any words.

"Guess the author of the books got bored or ran out of prophecies?" Zen guessed.

"Oh I doubt that, Zen." Chi popped up on the table.

"Chi! Do you happen to understand anything in this book?" Lucille clicked an idea when she recalled Chi was from the same era as these books.

"W-well...I know a little bit. Master Ava taught me when she had time to spare." Chi admitted.

"At this point, we'll take any help we can get." Zen told the Chirithy.

"Very well. I shall do my best to translate for you." Chi agreed as she walked across the table and plopped down next to the book.

Lucille went to the very end page and saw a simple passage of words that intrigued her for some reason. "What does this say?"

"Oh...this is the one that foreshadowed the keyblade war..." Chi glumly replied.

"And what does it say?" Zen pressed.

"On that fated land, a great war shall transpire. Darkness will prevail and the light expire." Chi translated.

Lucille shivered. "That's creepy. But...aren't we all still here though? So the light didn't expire." Lucille noted a flaw in the passage.

"Actually...Aster's grandmother when she had been still alive...she would often tell us a story about how our worlds became to be the way they are now." Zen explained, remembering the old lady that lived in the castle with them, she looked after the children while Ansem was busy with his research.

"She spoke that small fragments of light remained in the hearts of children. With that light, they helped rebuild our world to the one we see now. However, the many worlds far and between are still isolated and disconnected from each other."

"Aster had a grandmother?" Lucille became intrigued by this.

"Well...in truth, she was really a devoted member of the royal staff but she did treat us all like her own grandchildren, so we all called her Grandma, she was a very sweet old lady."

"Did she...die when your world fell?" Lucille looked sad as she asked this.

"No, she died peacefully in her sleep a few months before the attack happened. To be honest, I'm actually kinda glad for that. She didn't have to go through the horror we suffered ten years ago."

"That must have been hard on you and your friend." Chi looked apologetic.

"Of course it was. It was more painful for Aster and his little sister, she was a big part of their life, the only motherly figure they had. As you know though, Aster won't remember her with his amnesia the way it is."

"What happened to their mother?" Lucille asked.

"...According to Ansem, she died shortly after Aster's sister was born. She apparently had a weak heart and the strain of childbirth was too much on her body."

"I feel so bad for them." Lucille bit her lip, it made her more thankful that her own Mother and Father were alive, or at least they were before Destiny Islands was devoured...

"Even so, despite everything that happened, I...can't bring myself to hate him as much as I want to."

"Oh? Why is that?" Chi tilted her head.

"In the end, Ansem was the one who found me and raised me within the castle walls, if he truly was without a heart, he would have left me there." Zen answered.

"Oh that's right. You said that you weren't from Radiant Garden weren't you?"

"As far as what I learned about myself from Ansem and some of the staff that worked with him, apparently so. Ansem had flaws like anyone else, but he wasn't a bad person, he did have a compassionate heart and at the very least, he did spare some time for us when he was free, but that all changed when he started to devote more and more time into his research. I think something about that research he was conducting changed him for the worst in some way."

"You think...? It was research about the Heartless right? That's what Yuffie and Leon were telling Sora and I about all the way back in Traverse Town when we first got thrown there." Lucille thought carefully.

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly. The studies he did on the heart and the Heartless might have done something drastic to him. That would explain why he spent so much time in his lab. I never saw any of these reports he made, but Leon could be right about the reports having a clue about what happened ten years ago. I can't believe I just said that."

"Hmmm...If only we could know what truly happened during that period." Chi hummed.

"Unless you can turn back the clock, that's impossible. If there's one thing you can't fault Ansem for, it was his security when it came to his study, no one could get inside without his approval, not even his apprentices." Zen sighed.

Lucille went back to looking through the pages backwards from the last page, returning to one of the blank pages and stared intently at it. "I wonder what secrets you hide, little book?"

That was when they heard a loud noise from outside the ship. Quickly closing the books and placing them inside the vault, they rushed to the cockpit.

* * *

"Oswald! What's going on?" Zen's first words was to the rabbit who was frantically trying to tug the ship away from whatever had caught on to them.

"This is bad, we're being attacked by pirates!" Oswald answered quickly.

"Pirates?! There's pirates in the Interspace?" Lucille cried out.

Florian was also there and rushed over to Lucille's side. "Aren't those the kind of people who loot and plunder other ships?" Florian asked.

"Well...that pretty much explains what a Pirate does." Lucille slowly nodded.

"Do you think we can outrun them?" Zen asked the rabbit.

"I sure hope so, I'm going to throw us into warp speed, that should shake them off us."

"Wait, we're just randomly warping?" Lucille questioned

"Would you rather stay here with the pirates?" Zen pointed at the pirate ship.

"...Point taken." Lucille quickly corrected herself.

"Alright, buckle up kids!" Oswald warned them as he quickly started to get the ship ready for warp travel.

Zen and Lucille didn't waste time to get into their seats, Florian went into Lucille's heart and Chi held firmly on to Lucille's chest.

"Five, four, three, two, one...Warp Drive go!" Oswald watched the gauge for their warp engine build up and once it was maxed out, he pulled the lever that activated their warp engine, the Ortensia zoomed off to another part of Interspace far away from the ship.

* * *

"Blast! You let the little codfishes slip away, Smee!" Hook bellowed.

"A-Apologies captain." Smee apologised profusely.

"I know how to track them. Get the ship ready to warp as well." Riku informed them.

"Do you forget who's the captain here, boy?! I am! Smee, get the warp drive ready." Hook sneered before snapping his head to his small lackey.

"Yes captain! Right away!" Smee saluted and went ahead to carry out Hook's orders.

"Why are you after the girl anyway? She's not one of the Princesses of Heart that we're after." Hook demanded.

"That's none of your concern. That's another private matter entirely between me and Maleficent. Once the warp drive is ready, I'll tell you where we need to warp to." Riku cryptically stated before walking off.

Once the silverette was out of hearing range, Hook gritted his teeth. "Who does that little welp think he is?! I have no idea what Maleficent sees in that boy. No matter, I have an idea who the seventh princess is, that Wendy girl will make excellent bait for Peter Pan too...Heh heh..." He then proceeded to plot an plan that he had been scheming for a while.

* * *

The Ortensia came out of warp drive with a sudden stop, causing the people inside to almost fall out of their chairs.

"Whew...Looks like we're in the clear." Oswald wiped his head in relief.

"That was a close call. There's no way we would have been able to fight Pirates in this gummi ship if they had tried to board us." Zen added.

Florian jumped back out into the open and turned to Lucille. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, you Flo?" Lucille nodded.

Florian nodded back in response.

"Where did we warp to I wonder?" Chi curiously asked.

"To be honest, in the panic I just pressed a random location, but it should be one of that this Gummi Ship had already visited." Oswald answered.

"Hm? Is that the world? I don't remember coming here." Lucille looked out the cockpit window.

"Wait...Oswald, isn't this your homeworld?" Zen asked the rabbit with an raised eyebrow.

"What?!" Oswald jumped up and looked out the cockpit window to see it was indeed Disney Kingdom. "Oh no...Of all the places the warp drive had to choose at random." Oswald face palmed.

"Ooh! Can we go down there?!" Lucille went starry-eyed at this prospect.

"No way." Oswald shot down instantly.

"Why not...?" Lucille looked heart-broken.

"Have you forgotten that I _ran_ away from this world? If they know that I've come back, they'll never let me leave again. Besides...I'm not ready to face Ortensia. No doubt she's still mad at me."

"I think she would be even more miffed at you if she knew you were here but didn't even drop in to say hi. You should at least let her know you're okay." Zen scolded.

"Pleeeeaaasseee~ We won't tell anyone that you're here." Lucille begged.

"B-but-" Oswald tried to argue but sighed. "Okay, you're right. Ortensia doesn't deserve to be kept in the dark like this, so I'll go visit her discreetly without the others knowing I'm back. You guys have to keep it a secret too. If Minnie or Daisy find out, I'm a dead rabbit."

"No problem, our lips are sealed!" Lucille saluted and winked.

"Who is Miss Minnie and Miss Daisy, Mr. Oswald?" Florian asked.

"That's Queen Minnie so you know, kid." Oswald smirked. "And Daisy is her lady-in-waiting."

"The queen?!" Florian jumped up.

"Heh heh, better mind your manners then." Zen teased.

"Alright then, I'll find us a spot a bit of distance away from Disney Town. Then while I go and see my Ortensia, you guys can look around the place." Oswald explained their battle plan.

"Sounds good, let's do it." Lucille nodded.

With that Oswald lowered the Gummi Ship into Disney Kingdom.

* * *

They get sneak into the castle through the Gummi Ship port that is usually kept in the care of Chip and Dale, the two royal engineers. Disembarking from the ship, Lucille looked around with wonder.

"Wow...The castle as a secret gummi port?"

"Well we had to make our own gummi ships somehow." Oswald shrugged.

"So this is your homeworld. I'm not going to lie, I'm looking forward to this." Zen smirked.

"Heh heh." Lucille chuckled.

"I can't believe you kids talked me into this." Oswald groaned.

Florian looked around curiously. "Um...guys? I don't know why, but I think there's a Seraph here." Florian turned to them.

"Truly, Lord Florian? There's another of your kin here?" Chi jumped up.

Florian nodded. "There's no doubt about it. I can sense them just above us."

"Now that I think about it, you said that Seraphim folk likes to post their youngest Seraphim at worlds where the light is brightest, right?" Oswald looked thoughtfully.

"Yeah, it was to help make us stronger and develop our powers without the threat of Darkness being a factor. There were certain worlds that always shined brighter than others with a warm light, as if no darkness could penetrate it."

"But we already have a Cornerstone of Light here, why send a Seraph here too?" Oswald crossed his arms and pondered his thoughts out loud.

"Cornerstone of...Light?" Lucille tilted her head.

"I'm not surprised you don't know about them, they're really rare and hard to find. They're ancient relics of the old world, they're powered by Lux to create a protective barrier of light that shields that world from the influence of Darkness and the Heartless." Oswald explained.

"That's amazing! I wonder who made them?" Lucille wondered curiously.

"Good question, I wish I knew the answer to that too." Oswald shrugged.

"Where did you get this Cornerstone of Light though?" Zen wondered.

"Who knows? It's been in this world for as long as I've been around. Can't complain about it, since it has protected our world all this time."

"Hmmm, anyway, we need to figure out a way of move around the castle without alerting anyone. Especially since a certain someone here doesn't want to get spotted." Zen decided to drop the subject and move back to their main reason for being here.

"I feel that if we all together, we'll stick out like a sore thumb. Why don't you guys go check on Florian's hunch about that Seraph. I'll go by myself to see Ortensia." Oswald suggested.

"Gotcha, I have to admit, I kinda want to see this Seraph that's in this world too." Lucille then turned to Oswald. "You just enjoy your time with her. I'm sure she missed you."

Oswald softly smiled. "Thanks. Alright, even though this world is Heartless-free, don't drop your guard! We'll meet up back here, got it?"

"Right, let's go." With that, the group separated from Oswald who hurried off to find Ortensia in secret.

* * *

Turns out Oswald forget to mention to them about the long seemingly endless staircase that led up to the ground floor of the castle.

They finally reached the top and all collapsed on the ground upon reaching it.

"Oh thank goodness...It finally ended!" Chi cried out.

"But...we did it...as a team." Lucille added while catching her breath.

"I'll murder that rabbit if we find out that we could have taken an elevator." Zen grumbled.

Florian looked around and tried to locate the aura he felt from earlier, fortunately, it seemed his senses have sharpened now that they were on the ground floor.

"I think I can locate them, they don't seem that far away from where we are."

"Well that's good, just give us five for us to recover from that uphill climbing we just did." Zen brushed off.

"Oh, hold on, I'll use my magic. Revitalize!" Florian casted what seemed to be a different spell from the usual cure. They felt their energy return to them as if it never left.

"Whoo! I'm all fired up and ready to take on the world!" Lucille jumped up and punched the air.

"That...wasn't a cure spell. What did you just use?" Zen blinked in surprise.

"Although I can fight, I'm mostly only good at healing and defence artes. That was just one of the seraphic spells I know besides Binding Chains." Florian explained.

"Well, whatever that was, it was pretty impressive, I feel completely refreshed."

"So it's a Seraphic Arte. It's almost like a completely different branch of magic."

"Well, either way, thanks Flo. That really helped." Lucille thanked.

Florian shook his head and smiled. "It's no trouble, I'm glad my magic was able to help. Anyway, we should hurry after this Seraph before their aura disappears."

"Right! I mean how big could this castle...be?" Lucille nodded and took a few steps forward but then slow down as she finished her sentence. The hallway was blinding white, but very beautiful to look at it, the long carpet that stretched out throughout the hallway was a plush red and you could easily enter the royal gardens from the long hallway as well.

"I think you might be eating those words sooner than you think." Zen teased.

"Heh heh...eh..." Lucille laughed nervously and scratched her head sheepishly.

"What a beautiful garden!" Florian was the first to say, gazing out at the view.

"It's certainly a sight to look at! I mean, look at all these beautiful flowers!" Chi praised.

"Yes, the flowers that bloom here are a sight to see, aren't they?" A new voice popped in nearby, making all of them jump.

"Geez! Don't just sneak up on people like that! It's rude!" Lucille flailed.

"My apologies, dear lady. I must say, it has been a very long time since I've seen a pact between a human and seraph. That gives me hope for the future of our kind." The mystery person in question, seemed to be an elderly...white owl? Well, he seemed to have the same body shape as a person but he was clearly had the appearance of an old owl. He even had a long curly grey beard.

"Wait, how did you know that Lucille and Florian had a pact?" Zen picked up.

"Wait...you...are you the Seraph that I sensed from earlier?" Florian seemed to have put two and two together.

"Indeed I am, little one. You must be Florian. Delighted to meet you finally, Yggdrasil often keeps me up to date on how things are back in the Sacred Grove." The old humanoid owl smiled.

Florian jumped a little at the reveal. He knows about him? And he speaks about Lord Yggdrasil as if they are old friends.

"So you're the one? The guardian of this world?" Lucille asked curiously.

"You could say that. I am, yet I am not officially. I suppose one could say I am a self-appointed guardian." The old Seraph told her.

"Are you perhaps an Elder Seraph just like Lord Yggdrasil...Lord...um?" Chi asked the next question, only to realize that they didn't know the name of this new acquaintance.

"Ah yes, let me introduce myself to make up for my rude entrance. I am Dorga, the former leader of the Seraphim and the Keeper of Knowledge as my title would be among the Seraphim. Yggdrasil and I are old friends, but as you can imagine, I don't leave this world very much so he probably hasn't told any of the younger Seraphim of my existence out of respect for me. He knows I like my privacy."

"No way...so there's an Elder Seraph even _older_ than this Yggdrasil guy?" Lucille blinked. "Man, I'm so lost."

"Oh hoo hoo! I can imagine, child. Why don't we head to the royal library? We can talk in comfort there." Dorga offered, they decided to agree and follow him the library.

* * *

They arrived at the royal library with Dorga, the Seraph that has taken residence here as an unofficial guardian of this world, guiding them. Turns out when they entered, they found that they were not the only ones to be in here.

Oswald was there along with a cat in a red royal dress and had a red barrette of daisies next to her right ear.

"Yah! Where did you lot come from?!" Oswald jumped back at the sudden surprise.

"Oh, so these are your friends that you're travelling with, right?" The royal cat next to Oswald looked curious and thoughtful.

"Aha, so you're his sweetheart!" Lucille beamed before bowing politely before her. "An honour to meet you, Princess Ortensia."

"Oh please, just call me Ortensia. I'm delighted to meet you! Honestly Oswald, you could have just brought them along with you. After all, I'm grateful to them since they convinced you to finally visit me!"

"I'm sorry, darlin', really I am. I know I should have come back sooner but...you know, it would feel awkward to just suddenly come back after being away for so long." Oswald meekly apologised.

"Wow, never thought I'd see Oswald so timid." Zen whistled.

"Guess she's got Oswald wrapped around her little finger." Lucille teased.

"Hey! What's that meant to mean?!" Oswald huffed.

"Now now, let's all calm down and have a nice cup of tea, would you like to join us? I would love to know more about all of you, you can join us too, Lord Dorga, if you wish." Ortensia offered.

"I am humbled by your kindness, Princess." The owl bowed gracefully.

"You know about Dorga being a Seraph, my lady?" Lucille pointed to the owl man.

"Oh absolutely, he has been good friend to us for over ten years now when he first arrived." Ortensia nodded.

"Huh, so this was a few years after I left then." Oswald noted.

"Really? I thought you would have been here for longer." Zen was surprised.

"Ahaha, oh no, like I said, I self-appointed myself as guardian of this world, in truth, with this world protected by the Cornerstone, there's never been a need for a guardian here. Until I decided to make my home here, I had been wandering world from world since the Era of Fairytales came to an end." Dorga shook his head.

"To be honest, we didn't know he was a Seraph ourselves until he told us. Mickey granted him permission to live here in the castle with us after hearing Dorga's tale and he's been here ever since." Ortensia explained.

"I will be forever in debt to your Mouse King, Princess. He didn't need to offer that kind of compassion to someone like me, but he did anyway."

"I'm not surprised. Mickey's always been that thoughtful and kind. That's probably one of his best virtues." Oswald didn't seem surprised to hear that Mickey allowed an old Seraph to stay in their world.

"Hm, but you also have good virtues of your own, Prince Oswald." Dorga argued.

"Uh huh, an older brother who was jealous of his younger brother, got into a huge fight with him, ran away because he couldn't handle being forgotten on the sidelines and has an on-going inferiority complex when he should have been supporting that said brother. Says a lot about me." Oswald sighed.

"Oh Oswald..." Ortensia looked sadly

"But all siblings fight sometimes, Sora and I do, to be fair, it's mostly over stupid things and we make up by the end of the day." Lucille admitted.

"Uh Lucille, this is _kinda_ more serious than something that minor." Zen nudged.

"But you don't hate him, do you?" Florian asked.

"Of course I don't. But that's not the point, it's more jealousy than anything." Oswald sighed.

"He's not mad at you, you know. Mickey's been worried sick about you since you just ran off without sayin' anything to anyone." Ortensia told him.

"Really?"

"Mickey felt awful about fighting with you and wanted to apologise for what he said that night. And you feel that way too right?" Ortensia added.

"Well yeah, I was out of line when I said those things to him. I said some really awful things to him in the heat of the fight, things I regret."

"What did you tell him exactly?" Zen questioned.

"I told him that I wished he never existed so I wouldn't feel like such failure when compared to him, that my life could have been so much different." Oswald looked away ashamed.

Ouch...that definitely would have hit a nerve in anyone.

"How can you face someone after saying something that awful to their face? I was scared, I felt like destroyed an important bond between us, so...I ran away like a coward. To be honest, like I said, Mickey would have made a better ruler than I ever could have been. Even if I was the crowned prince."

Ortensia softly smiled. "Mickey never hated you, not once. He knew you were stressed and were hiding your feelings of hurt and he guessed that you felt like you were in his shadow. He never wanted that for you. That's why he wanted to talk it out with you."

"Is that so...? Man, now I feel even worse." Oswald felt terrible for how he treated Mickey. He knew that his little brother would have been a better ruler than him, but that was just his natural aura of how he attracts and loves the people around him. Oswald could never do that, he didn't have that same strength that was required of a ruler.

But Oswald just didn't want to accept it, so he lashed out instead, and then he just ran away from his problems.

"But you admitted that you were wrong, that takes strength too, to acknowledge one's mistakes. Mistakes though can be corrected, well, not all of them, but bonds can be mended as well. Say how you feel with no regrets, I'm sure your hearts will reconnect again." Dorga wisely told the rabbit.

"...If you say so, owl man. If there's one thing I learned on my journey since becoming a Keyblade Master, running away solves nothin'. I mean I thought Ortensia would be furious and probably break up with me after everything that happened, but here she is now."

"Of course, our hearts are always connected even when far apart. I was lonely and always wished you here, but I always knew that you would come back when you felt ready to come home, you're still my honey bunny." Ortensia told him.

She then gently poked him in the chest. "However, you better come back and at least visit me every now and then!"

"I'm truly sorry, Ortensia. I must've really hurt you when I left without telling you anything but leaving but my letter behind. I'm a really awful person."

"It's alright, you're here now and alive. That's all I want." Ortensia shook her head and cuddled her sweetheart.

"I can see why Oswald loves her, she's really a loving person." Lucille smiled.

"She's got the patience of a saint, I'll give her that. Most girls would probably have thrown the towel by now." Zen shrugged.

"But that just shows how much they care about each other though, sometimes that's enough, isn't it?" Florian added.

"Yeah." Lucille nodded.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, here I am rambling on and you lot are still standing there! Please sit down, we have much to discuss! I must know about everything you and Oswald have been up to!" Ortensia suddenly remembered.

* * *

Hours later and many cups of tea drank, they had told Ortensia about everything that has happened, who looked intrigued and in awe at all the things they had witnessed.

"Goodness, to think that all that has been happening while our kingdom continues as usual. It's truly mind-baffling!" Ortensia finally stated after hearing their tale.

"Yeah, we're still trying to gather Lux fragments and anything we can find about the past through old relics, but we're still pretty much left in the dark. That said, we find those strange books written in gibberish." Oswald nodded.

"You mean the Book of Prophecies, do you not?" Dorga guessed.

"How did you-" Lucille was about to ask but Dorga intervened.

"I was the original leader of the Seraphim before I passed that crown to Yggdrasil you know." Dorga laughed. "Nothing got passed me."

"So um...Lord Dorga. I've been meaning to ask...I'm sorry if this sounds rude but...why do you look like a owl? Even though have a human-like shape?" Lucille hesitated to ask.

"Do not fear, my dear. I'm not offended. You'd be surprised how many people asked me that. There are many factors that are taken into account when Seraphim are born from their heart's wish. We sometimes take the form of whatever we were when we were existed as before as a sense of familiarity. I was an owl in my past life if you must know."

"Huh, that explains why you look like an owl then, you liked being an owl that much?" Zen asked.

"Indeed, however, I suppose a part of me must have wished for something more, otherwise I would not be here." Dorga nodded.

"I wonder who Flo was before he was reborn as a Seraphim?" Lucille wondered.

"..." Florian just looked down at his cup with a distant look.

"Oh, don't worry. You don't have to answer, I was just curious." Lucille saw Florian's troubled look and shook her head frantically.

"However, there is one thing you must know about our kind. Even though we are beings created from the light of people's hearts, just as Heartless are born from the darkness of people's hearts, we are also powered by our wish, sometimes, in very rare cases, some of that wish that gives us our strength can be used against us. Wishes are very powerful you know."

Oswald's ears perked up at this. "Are you saying that there are some Seraphim that are bad?" Florian jumped up at this.

"No, I would not say that, but there is a chance that a once pure wish can be twisted by evil machinations of those who have dark hearts if they whispered the right words to them."

"..." Zen looked pained at this.

"You are thinking of Ion, aren't you young man?" Dorga accurately guessed Zen's thoughts.

"How do you know about Ion?"

"Like I said, Yggdrasil keeps me up to date even though I am no longer worthy of being called the leader of my kin. I have heard of what has befallen Radiant Garden. I am very sorry."

"Is there a way we could help Ion? He's been trying to protect what remained of Radiant Garden for so long, it's not for him to suffer like this anymore." Lucille asked Dorga.

"...In all my profound knowledge, I am afraid I do not know of a safe way to save a Seraph that has been tainted by the Darkness. There had been many untested methods and theories but they all carry a terrible risk, to both the one wishing to save them and the person they want to save."

"Then just tell us what these theories or methods are! Please...if you know of any way to help Ion, tell us." Zen begged.

Dorga sighed. "I know of one method that I know of. I used it to save as many of Seraphs I could during the Keyblade War. You could try extracting the darkness from them, doing so would free them from the control of the darkness. But...if their heart has been worn down too far by the darkness' influence, they will not recover from such heart fatigue and return back to original form as a heart, losing their Seraph body."

"That's not saving him!" He angrily stood up, glaring.

"Not in the same sense that you want it to be, no. I never said that this would let him stay alive, but it would allow his heart to be free to start over. In other words, his heart would be able to return to Kingdom Hearts to be reborn anew. If he remains bound to the Darkness, he would have been doomed to fade away completely with no hope of salvation. That would be the more merciful choice, I'm afraid you cannot both save and keep him alive." Dorga shook his head.

"...I can't believe this. Are you seriously telling me, there's no way to save him without ending his life?" Zen clenched his fists.

"I'm sorry. I know that isn't what you wanted, but it's the truth. Even if it is painful to hear." Dorga lowered his head.

It almost looked like Zen was about to say something to counter him but remained silent. He then just stormed out of the room.

"Oh dear, the poor thing." Ortensia felt sympathy for Zen.

"I can kinda understand how he feels, saving his friend was one of the things that drives him on, to hear that there's no chance to save his pal without killing him in the process...That's painful to hear, and I don't even know Ion." Oswald sighed.

"Lord Dorga, is there really no other way than that? You're basically telling us that we have to kill him in order to save him." Lucille turned to Dorga.

"Seraphim and your kind are sadly too different in how our bodies work to purify his heart without some consequences. Once a Seraph has been corrupted by the Darkness or too far gone, they cannot remain a Seraph, we are after all beings of Light, and that is the law of Kingdom Hearts."

"Besides, you aren't killing him, you're freeing his heart from being dragged into the oblivion, there would be no rebirth or hope for him if that happens. I do not know the current condition of Ion's state, but he knows that's what must be done too should the worst should happen to him."

"Lord Ion already knew? Even though he was knew what would happen to him?" Florian questioned.

"Lord Ion is young like you, little one. But Yggdrasil had always noted how Ion always thought of the well-being of others than his own, even when his own world didn't believe in his existence, he remained to act as their guardian. That was one of his greatest virtues, but in this case, it has been used against him by the same man who brought about Radiant Garden's fall into Darkness. Perhaps this was what the mastermind behind it all had intended from the start."

"This man is awful, not only did he hurt and toy with Zen's heart, he used Lord Ion's compassion against himself." Florian frowned.

"I'm going to go find Zen, I'm a little worried about him." Lucille stood up.

"Of course, Miss Lucille. I apologise for causing unintended agony for your friend. I understand the desire to protect and save a life that did not deserve such suffering, but..."

"I know, Lord Dorga. You said yourself that you did that for your own kin to save them from being devoured completely by the Darkness right? That must have been a hard choice to make." Lucille smiled softly.

"Yes, it pained my heart to do so, but it was the most merciful thing that I could do for them."

 _'I'm not so sure if I'd be that brave enough to make such a choice myself. There has be another way...'_ Lucille thought to herself.

She got up and headed towards the door to the library, when Zen suddenly opened it, making her jump a bit.

"Whoa, Zen! Where's the fire?"

"Hey, rabbit! There's some shady guy hiding out in the royal gardens, do you know him?" Zen asked Oswald.

"A shady guy? What does he look like?" Oswald raised an eyebrow.

"Hmmm...he looks like a big fat cat and a gruff-sounding voice." Zen described.

"Pete?!" Ortensia gasped in horror.

"Do you know him?" Lucille turned behind her to ask.

"We sure do. That ruffian often caused all kinds of mischief, he's a troublemaker that one." Oswald nodded.

"But the King banished him to another dimension a long time ago! How did he get out?" Ortensia looked troubled.

"Hmm...it sounds like he could have gotten outside help from someone. I do not think that person had good intentions either." Dorga noted.

"I'll bet my Keyblade it could be that Maleficient's doing." Oswald frowned.

"Then he's an enemy, good, I needed something to punch." Zen quietly muttered.

"Hey, none of that talk." Lucille heard him though and scolded.

Zen rolled his eyes. "Anyway, we need to deal with him. Don't worry, your highness! We'll deal with this Pete, you keep yourself safe." Lucille then added.

"But..."

"She's right, Ortensia. Go find Minnie and her attendant Daisy and stick with them, got it?" Oswald turned to his sweetheart.

"Please be careful, everyone." Ortensia sighed and slowly agreed.

"Lord Dorga, can you go with her?" Florian turned to the older Seraph.

"Don't worry, leave her care to me." Dorga nodded.

With that, the group charged out of the library and headed into the royal gardens.

* * *

Pete grumbled as he struggled to find his way around the royal castle. "D'oh, now where this stupid keyhole Maleficent keeps going on about."

He was stopped in his tracks when a dark fireball was thrown down in front of him, making Pete jump a few steps back. "Hey! What's the big idea, ya nimrod?"

"So, you're the infamous pete, you chose the wrong time to try sneaking into the castle." Lucille had her Lux Arma out ready and got into her battle stance, along with the rest of the group.

"Wait...I know you, you're that little girl with that pesky ghost or whatever she calls it who keeps messing up with Maleficent's plans! She warned me about ya."

"Little girl?!" Lucille yelled.

"Ghost?!" Florian never felt so insulted.

"Don't worry, kid. Pete's always been wet behind the ears." Oswald reassured.

"Well lookie here, it's the runaway rabbit prince. Never thought I'd see yer face again!"

"Tch, feeling's mutual. Why are you here? How did you escape? There's no way you could have gotten out by yourself, you're not smart enough for that."

"You wanna know how eh? Well Maleficent busted me out, that's how!"

"Yup, I knew it. Of course it'd be her." Oswald groaned.

"Well either way, we're kicking you out of this castle." Zen said as his claw arm pulsed with energy.

"Yipes! Guess it's time for me to bring in the main guns." Pete used his two fingers and whistled, only to find no Heartless surfaced. "Huh? Hey, why aren't the Heartless showing up?"

Lucille blinked. "Is this guy for real?"

"Apparently so. I think he forgot this world is protected by the Cornerstone, Lady Lucille." Chi nodded.

"Hey, newsflash big guy! The Heartless can't enter this world, how about you just give up and leave already?" Zen scoffed.

"Grrr...I don't need the Heartless, I can take you punks down myself!" Pete growled and charged at them.

"Get ready!" Oswald brought his Keyblade up, ready to strike.

They dodged of Pete's line of sight when he tried to throw a punch their way.

Zen responded with firing another volley of dark fireballs before dashing in for a close up strike.

Pete barely dodged the claw arm with it just scratching a part of his armour. He then crouched down and started to roll around like a rock towards them.

"Float!" Florian quickly casted a defence arte that levitated the group from the ground so they could dodge Pete's rolling attacks.

When Pete came out of his rolling position, he was dizzy and dazed for a moment. That was their chance to strike. So Lucille and Oswald teamed up to deliver a flurry of strikes, causing Pete fall flat on his back.

"Just give it up Pete." Oswald warned.

"Grrr...Fine then! There's plenty of other worlds that I can conquer where you little pipsqueaks aren't!" Pete opened a corridor of darkness and was about to go through it.

"Wait, now that I think about it, ain't that a Heartless Claw? Does that make ya half-heartless or somethin'?"

Zen looked he was about to murder him for making such a connection but Lucille held him back. "Don't let him get to you."

"I bet ya could do a lot of damage with that thing. Bet a fella like you on our side would make conquering these worlds much smoother."

"I am _nothing_ like you. And I'm nothing like the Heartless either." Zen growled.

"You're wrong about Zen. Don't even put him on the same boat as you, you're just a coward and a bully." Lucille defended.

"Fine, don't blame if he goes around stealin' yer hearts later down the line." Pete scoffed before heading off into the corridor of darkness.

"Tch, he was a pushover." Zen turned his claw arm back into his bandaged one.

"Pete isn't exactly the strongest Maleficent has ever recruited, still we can't afford to underestimate him next time we meet. He's a nasty piece of work but a cunning one too, there are some moments when he can be smart although they are rare occasions." Oswald told him.

"I guess. To be honest, I think I'm starting to get more impulsive the more I use this claw. Do you think-"

"Don't let what Pete said get to you. You're one of the most stubborn people I know, and that's saying something since Riku is equally as stubborn. You'll be fine~" Lucille smiled.

"Ugh, you comparing me to that Riku guy makes my skin crawl." Zen retorted. "I know you're just trying to cheer me up though, so thanks."

"..." Lucille blinked and placed hand over his forehead as if to check his temperature.

"What?" Zen glared.

"You just thanked me for something. I was just wondering if you were feeling alright." Lucille teased.

Zen rolled his eyes and grabbed Lucille's arm to remove it from his forehead. "Don't make me take it back, Island girl."

"And there's the Zen I know and get mad about." Lucille continued with her teasing.

"At least we chased that goon off. Let's go back and-Uh oh..." Oswald paled.

"What is it?" Lucille blinked and looked in Oswald's direction.

They saw Ortensia and Lord Dorga along with Queen Minnie and Daisy, her loyal attendant.

"...Have fun, Oswald. Let us know if you live." It was Zen's turn to tease, although it was pointed at the rabbit.

"Can I get to drive if you end up getting imprisoned in this castle?" Lucille joined in.

"Oh no, don't you two even think about it! I'm not letting you drive the ship, little lady! Not after the last time!"

"Oh c'mon, it was _one_ time!" Lucille flailed and defended herself.

"You nearly crashed us into a flying rock in space, the Ortensia isn't that durable." Zen reminded.

"Ahem!" Daisy coughed and placed her hands on her hips, getting the rabbit's attention.

"Hahahaha...Oh I'm gonna die."

* * *

So, four hours later, Oswald finally calmed down an annoyed duck lady and explained everything that had happened from when Oswald left this world to right up to today.

"Oh, Oswald. You shouldn't have been scared. We all care about you dearly, we all worried terribly about you when you suddenly disappeared. Mickey was especially worried." Minnie replied after hearing out Oswald.

"I know. I'm really sorry about everything." Oswald apologised.

"Well, we had didn't really help the matter by making you feel inferior, that was never our intention. But we should have been more considerate, so we all have a part in this blame." Daisy shook her head.

"It all got out of hand, but mistakes can be corrected and mended. Just know that you'll always have a home here, Oswald. You and Ortensia are like family to me. And Mickey will always have the greatest respect and admiration for you, not even that argument you both had will change that." Queen Minnie stated.

"I know. Thanks, Minnie. Heh, it's always the girls that seem understand us better than Mickey and I know ourselves."

"You're telling me." Ortensia sighed.

"This is great! I'm glad things finally got cleared up for you Oswald, now you know you can always come back here when your journey ends." Lucille beamed.

"Yeah, I suppose I should be thanking you kids. If you hadn't more or less forced me to land here, I probably would still be afraid to come back." Oswald thanked.

"The rabbit is thanking us, now I've heard everything." Zen noted.

"Ah, you're not going to keep me grounded in the castle or anythin' right?" Oswald turned to ask.

Minnie laughed. "Oh dear, of course not! It would be nice for you come back and visit us every now and then though."

"Besides, it's not nice to keep a loved one waiting, ain't that right, sweetie?" Daisy turned to Ortensia.

Ortensia smiled and nodded.

"Just you wait, I'll find Mickey and drag him back here. But yeah, I'll come back and visit, I promised my Ortensia after all."

Zen faced Lord Dorga. "Hey...sorry about being angry with you back in the Library. I..."

Dorga shook his head. "You had every right to be angry with what I told you. I only wished I could have given you the answer you wanted. It warms my heart to know that Ion has found such a devoted friend as you though."

"Hey, Zen. We'll find a way to save Ion, there has be another way, it's just no one has discovered it yet. And we'll be the first ones, you'll see." Lucille encouraged.

"Heh, you always look on the bright side don't you?"

"Hey, do you think that Pete guy was able to see me? I didn't think about it until now." Florian wondered.

"What brought that up?" Zen curiously asked.

"Well, he knew I was there, but it didn't look like that he knew where I was exactly. Does that make sense?" Florian defined.

"It could be that all that darkness might have blinded him. It has been known to happen to those who can see Seraphim originally."

"Now **that** I find hard to believe." Lucille scoffed.

"Actually everyone in this world can see Seraphim, why do you think these guys here can see Lord Dorga?" Oswald confirmed.

"You forget, I'm the proof that it can happen. Guy with the big Heartless claw arm, remember?" Zen reminded, demonstrating his point by showing his bandaged arm.

"Ooooh yeah." It dawned on Lucille. "I still think Pete is a big bully." She pouted.

"You're mad he called you a little girl, aren't you?" Zen smirked.

"No!" She huffed defiantly, after a few moments she added quietly. "... okay maybe a little..."

"Ya guys ready to leave? We've got a Mouse and a certain gal here needs to find her friends, right?" Oswald turned the others.

Lucille nodded. "Yeah, I feel like that we'll find them soon, I just know it. I wonder if Sora has found either of them yet?" Lucille wondered.

"We'll know soon enough. I'd say we take a trip back to Traverse Town and see if anything has come up while we were away."

"It was an honour and delight to meet you all. We'll promise to come back and visit soon, your highness." Lucille bowed respectfully.

"Oh please, there's no need for that. Just call me Minnie." Queen Minnie softly laughed and reassured the brunette.

Dorga looks on. _'In all my years, I've never met a group quite like them. That old girl Matoya, that seer-sight of hers is a wonder, she could end up being right after all.'_

* * *

Saying their last goodbyes to the queen, Ortensia, Daisy and Dorga, they boarded their gummi ship once more and flew off back into Interspace.

When they were a distance away from the world, Oswald prepared to launch the warp drive again to take them to Traverse Town, just before he could and everyone could breathe easy.

A familiar ship suddenly came into view, as if had been waiting for the right time to strike.

"What the?! Isn't that pirate ship from before?" Lucille gasped.

"How did it get all the way here?! Unless...no way, don't tell me they have a warp drive too?" Zen questioned.

"We'll just have to jump out of their reach again, preparing to-" Before Oswald could activate it, they felt the ship shake when it collided with something, that looked like the side of the pirate ship.

"They're not going to try and board us out here...are they?" Lucille turned to the rabbit.

"Oh no, this is bad. They must have anchored our ship to theirs, we can't even break free!"

Just then they heard the door to the ship breaking off the hinges of the ship.

"What the?! Hey! That door wasn't cheap!" Oswald barked.

"Oswald, that's not important! They're boarding our ship!" Zen argued.

"Eeeek! Put me down!" Chi's cry cried out from outside the cockpit.

"Oh no! Chi! Can we fight them on the ship? We have to save her!" Lucille was about to summon her Lux Arma before someone interrupted.

"I wouldn't do that, lass." A man in a red pirate coat, wearing a red hat and a hook for one of his hands approached the cockpit room with a triumphant evil grin. "Unless you don't care about yer little furball friend here." He showed Chi who was being pulled up by the nape of her neck with his other hand.

"I'm sorry...They caught me just when I was about to warn you guys about the door being breached." Chi apologised while trying to get out of Hook's grip.

Zen sighed in defeat. "Of course the Chirithy gets captured."

"Now then, once we reach our destination, you'll be boarding our vessel as our hostages. Don't even think about trying to escape, not while we have your little friend here."

"Grrrr..."

"You must be the sister of that Keyblade Brat, the one **he** keeps blabbing about along with that other girl."

"Other girl...?" Lucille raised an eyebrow in confusion.

The group had now found themselves captured by the one called Captain Hook, with the Ortensia still trapped, they had no choice but to let the pirate ship pull them and their gummi ship along to whatever world they wanted to take them to.

* * *

So how's that for a cliff-hanger? XD Okay not much a cliff-hanger but I'll leave it there til next chapter to make things exciting. =D

I apologise again for a long wait I caused. Like I said back on top though, I had to completely redo the whole chapter after my original idea for the chapter got scrapped since I didn't feel right to add it until later in the timeline.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter, as I felt that in the end, this was the better choice to progress. Now we're on to Peter Pan's world! (Finally! One of the chapters that I've been eagerly waiting to do. XD) Hopefully this chapter will be done faster than this one.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, alerted and read this story. I'm deeply touched by your support and I hope to live up to your expectations in the future.

So until the next chapter, happy reading folks!

Moogle Empress out!

Moogle: Kupo!


	15. Episode 15: Distance

**Episode 15: Distance**

* * *

"Well, this sucks." Zen stated the obvious as he, Lucille, Oswald and Chi were thrown into an empty part of the brig and remained as prisoners of Captain Hook and the swarm of pirate looking Heartless under his command. As Florian was a Seraph, he remained unseen by Hook, but he wanted to stay close to Lucille so he dutifully stayed close to her.

They had somehow ended up captives after they had caught up to them by some mysterious method that they failed to find the answer to yet. With Chi's life threatened when Hook grabbed the Chirithy, they couldn't fight back unless they risked Chi's safety, and Lucille couldn't endanger her.

"I'm sorry, it's my fault we got thrown into this awful place. You could have fought them back if they hadn't caught me." Chi whimpered.

"We'll be okay, Chi. It's not your fault that they ambushed us out of the blue like that." Lucille picked up the Chirithy and cuddled her.

"We need to figure out what's going on, but we'll also need to make sure we don't get caught again once we're out." Oswald told them.

"That Hook guy has Heartless crawling all around though, I'm not sure we'll be able to get around without getting into a fight with them. No matter how you look at it, we're not going to be able to sneak around." Zen noted.

"I still can't figure out how they caught up to us so fast." Florian shook his head.

"You and me both, even if they have a warp drive of their own, there's no way they could accurately pinpoint our location unless they found a way to track our movements." Oswald pondered.

"Here's what I don't understand, they're pirates that usually loot and plunder other vessels right? But they didn't seem at all interested in anything in our ship, like the Lux Fragments or the relics we found." Zen pointed out an odd behaviour that he noted while they were dragging them on their pirate ship.

"Good point, it was almost like they were hunting us for another reason." Oswald nodded.

They heard footsteps coming this way and all of them stood up, looking at the door, bracing themselves in case they needed to use self-defence.

When the door opened, it was Hook who entered inside along with his first mate.

"Alright, lass. Yer comin' with me, Smee, you lock the rest of these bilge rats in with our...other captives." Hook turned to Mr. Smee.

"Aye aye, capt'n! Okay, you heard him, move along." Smee saluted.

"Whoa, wait a minute, why do you need Lucille by herself?" Zen argued.

"None of your business, boy. Besides, this is what that brat wants, unfortunately I have no choice to but to follow along, since he's Maleficent new favourite pet." Hook spat.

"He?" Lucille looked confused.

"I'll go with Lucille. I don't want to leave her by herself in this awful place." Florian told the others.

"It looks like they can't see you, so you're our best choice." Oswald gave a small nod.

"Thanks Flo, I'm actually a little scared to go alone. I have a bad feeling about this." Lucille thanked.

Florian smiled. "Do you even need to thank me?"

"Wait, I demand to go too! I am Lady Lucille's self-appointed guardian!" Chi cried out.

"Ha, as if you can protect her when you were the one who we captured to make your friends compliant."

"..." Chi whimpered.

"Hey, you leave Chi alone! You're the coward here who picks on defenceless people or creatures smaller than yourself." Lucille barked.

"You call it cowardice, I call it efficiency. Now march, girl!" Hook countered.

Lucille, Florian and Chi had no choice but to follow Hook. She looked back to Zen and Oswald. "Don't worry, we'll be okay." With that, they were seperated into two groups.

* * *

Oswald and Zen were shoved into the room before the door locked on them again.

"No wonder people hate pirates so much." Zen growled, facing the door.

"Good thing I have a keyblade, once we make sure the coast is clear, we bail." Oswald brought out his keyblade and was about to unlock the keyhole before someone spoke out behind them.

"Well I'll be! Hey there, ya highness! How ya doin'?" It was a familiar voice that Oswald knew too well.

"Goofy? Then that means..." Oswald turned around to see it was indeed Sora, Donald and Goofy who were thrown into the room as well.

"What are you doing here, your highness?" Donald asked curiously, very surprised to see them, not that Oswald could blame the duck.

"Ahhh...stuff happened." Oswald laughed nervously.

"Hey, where's Sis? I don't see Florian or that small cat thing either." Sora was the very first to notice the absence of his sister. Not that surprising really.

"Isn't she usually with you?" Goofy added.

"We got separated by Hook and his goons, apparently someone wanted to hunt us down and drag us on this ship. Maleficent new favourite pet, if I remember what that codfish of a captain said."

"Oh no! That must be Riku he was talking about."

"RIKU?!" Both Oswald and Zen cried out in shock.

"Are you certain it's him, Sora?" Oswald wanted to confirm what Sora said.

Sora sadly nodded. "I don't know why, but it's true. I don't understand what's happening to Riku, he's never acted like this. He...wouldn't hurt Lucille, would he?"

"Hmmm...I don't think he's that type of guy from the way Lucille built him up. It still worries me that he's working with the evil fairy, why?" Oswald shook his head.

"I know Lucille told us not to worry, but now that jerk's involved, we can't stand around here."

Oswald's ears perked up curiously. "You know, I think that's the first time you called Lucille by her name instead of Island girl." He then had a cat-like grin grow on his face.

Zen stiffened. "Don't get the wrong idea, rabbit. It's not what you think."

"She would have a heart attack if she heard that come from you." Oswald teased, but decided to drop it when Zen glared at him.

"...I don't get it." Sora looked puzzled.

"You'll understand when you're older." Donald snickered.

"Uh...how are we gonna get out though, isn't that door locked?" Goofy asked.

"..."

"..."

"Goofy, Sora and I have Keyblades. We're like the gods of all keys." Oswald rolled his eyes.

"...Oh yeah! Hyuck! I forgot all about that!" It slowly dawned on Goofy.

Donald sighed.

That was when another voice entered.

"Ahem! How ya doin' there? Looking for a way out?" The owner of that voice jumped out of hiding, he wore green tunic with a green cap with a feather in it and green pants.

"Who are you?" Goofy was the first to respond.

"I'm the answer to your prayers." The boy in green boasted.

Donald didn't look at all impressed, crossing his arms and tapping his webbed foot.

"Okay then. Fine. Have it your way." The boy shrugged.

"But you're stuck in here too, aren't you?" Sora asked.

"Huh, no, I'm just waiting for someone."

"Who?" Sora just finished saying just as a ball of yellow light with the sound of bells and sparkles following spiralled around Sora before approaching the boy in green.

"Tinkerbell, what took you so long?" The boy in green asked the ball of light which then turned into a blonde-haired fairy.

In some kind of unspoken language, it would seem the boy in green understood what the fairy was saying.

"Great Job. So you found Wendy? Wait hold on, there was another girl there, too?"

"Another girl?" Zen repeated.

"Are you crazy? There is no way I'm gonna leave Wendy there!"

"Aha, she must be pretty jealous." Donald teased before laughing out loud.

"Uh Donald I don't think-" Oswald was about to say before Tinkerbell came over and kicked the duck in the beak. "Well I was about to warn you."

It was then that the Fairy slipped out of the small gap in the door, probably in a huff.

"C'mon Tink, open the door." The boy in green.

"Ahem, I believe we can make a deal." Oswald showed his keyblade to the boy in green.

The boy in green seemed to have caught on to what the rabbit was implying and sighed. "I'm Peter Pan." He outstretched his hand.

"I'm Sora." Sora was about to return to gesture until Peter Pan took his hand back. "Okay, we're in this together but only 'til we find Wendy."

"Huh, he's more rude than you Zen." Oswald noted.

"I'm not sure if I should take that as a compliment or an insult." Zen rolled his eyes at Oswald's remark.

"Do you think we could check this room that Peter Pan was talking about? I think that other girl he mentioned could be Kairi."

"Kairi? The other friend that you and Lucille we're looking for?" Oswald looked with interest.

Sora nodded. "I just know that it's Kairi. I saw her before they threw me in here."

"Alright then, I'm sure that island girl would have suggested the same thing."

"Oh it's not Lucille anymore?" Oswald poked fun at the greenette.

"Just open the god damn door, Oswald." Zen growled.

Oswald decided he teased Zen enough and he used his keyblade to unlock the door that was keeping them prisoner and slowly opened it to make sure the coast was clear of Heartless sentries.

After being sure that it was safe, the group left their prison and tried to look for a way upward to the deck.

As they continued their way to the ship, Goofy decided to ask another question out of the blue. "So uh, how come can you fly?"

"Anyone can fly, you wanna try?" Peter Pan answered.

"Wait... _seriously_?" Zen blinked.

"Well...nothin' ventured, nothin' gained, right?" Oswald shrugged.

Peter Pan whistled to Tinkerbell, who still looked miffed. "Aw, haven't you cooled off yet, Tink?" He then took hold of Tinkerbell's wings carefully and hovered above the group, allowing the pixie dust to be sprinkled all over them.

"Just a little bit of Pixie dust. There, now you can fly!"

Donald was the first to test this out, but he fell flat first on the floor. Tinkerbell silently laughed at the duck's failure.

"I guess it takes more than just pixie dust." Oswald shurgged.

"C'mon, we better keep moving. No telling how long we have before they found out we escaped."

"Yeah, I'm worried about Sis and Kairi too." Sora nodded.

* * *

"What?! So Wendy's not one of the chosen ones?" Hook's cry of disbelief was heard first.

"There are seven, supposingly, and Maleficent says she's not one of them."

"Hoist anchor as soon as possible. Leave all the dead weight behind, including her."

"After the trouble of _capturing_ her? And why _those_ seven?! What is Maleficent planning, anyway?" Hook shouted.

"Who knows. As long as it means getting Kairi's heart back and saving Lucille, I couldn't care less."

"Hmph, you're wasting your time! The Heartless have devoured that girl's heart. I'll stake me other hand that it's gone forever, and that cure you're looking for to vanquish that girl's Seraph probably doesn't even exist." Hook scoffed.

"I will find it no matter what."

Just as Hook was about to open his mouth to say something, the long pipe next to him, carrying Smee's voice.

"Uh, Captain?"

"What?" Hook answered into the pipe.

"The prisoners have escaped. What's more, Peter Pan is with them." Smee reported.

"Grrr...Blast that Peter Pan!" Hook cursed. "Alright then! Bring the hostages to me cabin, Smee. Hop to it!" Hook ordered.

Riku thought carefully about his next move, he couldn't afford to let Lucille escape again like she did in Monstro, even though it was still confused how she escaped from his binds in the first place. He'll have to distract those interfering friends of hers somehow.

* * *

"Grrraaaah! Open already!" Lucille kicked the door for the fifth time trying to break themselves out, but once again she was rewarded with a shot of pain to her foot. "Owwww!" She whimpered as eased her poor foot.

"Lucille I think you need to stop, you're going to break your foot at this rate." Florian told her.

She sighed and fell to the ground. "Yeah...sorry Wendy, I got your hopes up for nothing." Lucille apologised to a young girl in a blue dress.

She shook her head with a comforting smile. "It's alright. I appreciate what you were trying to do."

When Lucille, Chi and Florian got moved into this room when they were separated from Zen and Oswald, they found themselves locked in with a girl named Wendy, who a friend of someone called 'Peter Pan'.

The other was someone Lucille knew very well. " Oh Kairi..." Lucille looked sadly at her friend. The guilt came back to her as she looked at her friend's soulless expression. Kairi had saved her life by pushing her out of the way, at the cost of her heart being taken away.

"Do you know what is wrong with your friend? She seemed to have been asleep for quite some time. Is she unwell?" Wendy asked with concern.

"It's a little complicated. Thank you for looking after her though." Lucille sighed and shook her head.

She went over and sat in front of Kairi, she then took a hold of her hand, she felt warm despite the fact that there was no spark of life from her at all. "This is all my fault. I let this happen to you, Kairi...I promise I'll make it up to you and get your heart back, somehow." Lucille felt like crying, but she knew it would solve nothing, so despite her eyes welling up, she dried them, renewed with a sense of determination to save Kairi.

 _"Her heart is closer than you think, Lucille. Don't worry, she's somewhere very safe."_ She heard a voice echo in her mind. She jumped up in surprise and turned to Florian and Chi. "Hey, did you or Chi say something Flo?"

Florian and Chi shook their heads in confusion. Surprisingly Wendy was able to see Florian so thankfully she didn't have to worry about keeping Florian a secret.

"That's weird..." Lucille was confused at what just happened. _'Was I hearing things just now? Oh no, don't tell me I'm going crazy!'_

They heard footsteps from below and Lucille crawled over to the grate beneath to see who it was. She could see what looked like fairy hovering around as if to signal to someone.

"What is it Tink?" She heard an unfamiliar voice, but one that was familiar to Wendy.

"Peter? Peter Pan?" She came over to the grate as well.

"Oh, so this is Peter Pan?" Lucille asked her.

"Yes, I'm ever so glad to see him." Wendy nodded happily.

"Sis, you're okay!" Sora waved, relief washed over him.

"Sora! Did you guys get caught too?"

"Apparently they rammed their gummi ship by chance." Oswald answered.

"What about you guys?" Zen asked.

"We're okay, thankfully we ended up in same room as Wendy. Guess they wanted us all the girls together for some reason." Lucille nodded.

That was when they heard footsteps coming closer to the door. "Please hurry! The pirates are coming!"

"What? I'll be right there! Just hold on!" Peter Pan told her.

"Wendy? Lucille?"

"Yes?"

"What is it Sora?"

"Is Kairi in there with you?" Sora asked.

"Oh that's right! Yeah she's here, but..." Lucille nodded to confirm.

"Oh, why, yes. But she seems to be asleep. She hasn't budged an inch." Wendy added.

"Kairi? Kairi!" Sora called out.

Much to Chi's surprise, she could have sworn Kairi's arm moved by itself for a moment. Sora tried outstretching his hand while Wendy jumped up and tried to keep the door closed when she heard the pirates had just arrived at the door.

Lucille jumped up to help Wendy when she saw the door starting to budge open.

When Chi noted on closer attention that for one small second, she saw Kairi's hand twitch to life. "Wait...don't tell me that.."

Despite the combined efforts of Wendy and Lucille, they pushed the door open and proceeded to drag all of them out of the room, including Kairi.

"Hey! Get your hands off me!"

"No! Kairi! Sis!" Sora tried to find a way to reach the grate but there was no possible way of climbing up from the room they were in.

"Wendy! C'mon, we need to get up there."

"Hang on, we're coming!" Zen shouted, hoping she heard him. "Florian, Chi! Follow them!" Zen told the Seraph and Chirithy that were left behind.

"Right!" Florian didn't hesitate and chased after the pirates that took Lucille and the other girls away.

Chi looked thoughtful for a moment before following after Florian. She had a hunch that she knew just where Kairi's heart could be now.

* * *

"Let us go, you punks! I know how to walk by myself! I'm warning you! I have a sword and I'm not afraid to use it!" Lucille tried to escape the grip of the Heartless pirates that were dragging her somewhere outside and shoved into what looked like a luxurious cabin, probably belonging to Captain Hook, along with Kairi's still lifeless body. Thankfully Lucille managed to catch her.

"There's no need to shove."

She placed Kairi gently on the wooden floor before scanning her surroundings carefully. She could feel that someone was in the room as well but she couldn't see the person. She summoned her Lux Arma out ready in case to self-defend herself. If her encounter in Monstro told her anything, she clicked together who Hook was talking about from before.

"Riku, I know you're here. Come out of hiding and face me! I'm going to knock some common sense right back in that stupid skull of yours!"

"I didn't want to do this, but you left me no choice. Just know that I genuinely am trying to save your life, even if you end up hating me for it." Riku's voice felt close even though she couldn't see him.

"Wha-?" Before she had time to react, she soon saw nothing but darkness as she was knocked unconscious.

* * *

Florian and Chi were close to where they saw taking Lucille and the other girls in. Just then, Florian felt as if something had stabbed his heart. "Ow! My body...what?"

"Lord Florian! What happened?" Chi panicked.

"My body, it feels like it's breaking apart. Wait...is this the whiplash effect Master Merlin warned us about if we were separated from each other in different worlds?"

"But that would mean...Oh no! Lady Lucille! They've taken her off-world!" Chi screamed in horror.

"This is bad. If we leave things as they are, the connection between us will be severed." Florian grew worried for Lucille rather than his own. He had no idea what they could want with her, but it was clear they wanted him out of the picture.

Although Florian struggled to stand and move, he made his way the captain's cabin, just around the same time as the others had arrived.

"Good grief, what happened kid? You look real pale." Oswald asked in concern.

"It's the whiplash effect of the pact, if either of them are separated on different worlds while still maintain the pact, it causes strain on their connection." Chi told them.

"Wak?! Wait, does that mean Sora's sister isn't in this world anymore?" Donald jumped.

"Uh, I hate to ask ya, but what happens if ya too far away?" Goofy asked.

"...If I don't find Lucille soon, the pact will break apart."

"Isn't that bad if you force the pact to break by force?" Sora faintly recalled from what Lucille had told him back in Traverse Town when they met up again.

"It certainly won't be good consequences for either of them. If the kid's already suffering this bad, we haven't got much time before we're too late. We got to find her!" Oswald stated.

"I see. If that's all it had to be done to separate those two, I would have done it sooner." Riku spoke, taking all of them by surprise.

Sora looked on with shock as he saw Riku with Kairi's unconscious form. "Riku, wait!"

"What have you done with Lucille?" Zen demanded.

"Why does it matter to you?" Riku glared.

"None of your damn business, bright eyes! I can't believe you, sure I knew you were a jerk but I didn't think you would do something like this to her. Do you even realize how much heartache you gave her because of your selfishness, you jackass?" Zen fought back.

"I'm doing this to save her heart from being taken away the same way that Kairi's had been. You and Sora just allowed that Seraph to run amok with her and you are a ticking time bomb, it's only a matter of time before that claw of yours attacks someone, what if that person ended up being Lucille? Could you live with the guilt?" Riku countered.

Zen flinched. He couldn't really argue that point, that was one of his worst fears.

"All you need to know that she's safe and away from you lot. She'll be safer with me than with any of you."

"Riku! Please, listen to me. Don't do this! I know you're doing this because you care about her, I know this. But, if you allow the pact to break now in this manner, it will-" Florian tried to make Riku reconsider his choice and warn him about the serious consequences this could cause.

"I'm done with all of you. Here, I prepared something for you. Go play with them." Riku summoned what looked like a shadow version of Sora.

With that Riku stepped into a portal of darkness that he made for himself, taking the unconscious form of Kairi.

"Kairi! Sis!" Sora tried to run towards the portal to stop Riku but the shadow he created blocked his path.

"Oh, by the way, in case you're wondering how we managed to track you down so easily, you can thank that arm of yours, Zen. I used the power of darkness to locate you when you slipped out of our reach last time." Riku decided to reveal.

"What? You...Why you-!"

Riku managed to slip away in the darkness, leaving them with the shadow that he created. Just before the portal faded, Chi made a bold choice and dashed towards the portal and jumped right into it.

"What's that crazy Chirithy doing?!"

Despite Florian being unable to fight at all, they managed to take down the shadow version of Sora without much problem.

"Riku...I can't believe he'd do this to Lucille." Sora shook his head in disbelief.

"He used my arm to find us and ambush us...because of me, Lucille's now..."

"Hey, Lucille's a tough gal, have a little faith in her. But we got to get to her asap, for both her and Florian's sake." Oswald reassured him.

"It's no one's fault. Riku's the one who's getting tricked by Maleficent here, the important thing is to find out where they ran off too. I have a rough idea where they could have gone, but we need more concrete proof."

"Then I say we visit the captain of this ship for answers." Zen clenched his bandaged fist.

"I hope Chi will be okay. She must have went inside to find Lucille." Florian guessed.

Meanwhile Peter Pan found Wendy in the corner of the cabin unconscious. "Wendy."

Tink was hovering around again to which Peter Pan get annoyed with. "C'mon Tink, not now!"

As Tinkerbell flew off somewhere, Peter Pan picked up the unconscious form of Wendy. "Well, this is far as I can go, I've gotta help Wendy." He told them as he flew off to take Wendy to safety.

"He could have just hung around a little longer to help us with Hook." Zen narrowed his eyes.

"Hey, can you guys keep an eye on Florian? I know Sis would be really worried about him right now if she was here. She'd be counting on you guys to take care of him while she's not around."

"...Kid's got a point. We can't leave Florian like this. He's in no state to fight." Oswald sighed.

"...Alright then, we'll wait here and keep an eye on Florian, good luck facing Hook, don't let him get away with this." Zen told Sora.

"Yeah, we won't. We'll be back as soon as we dealt with that pirate." Sora nodded in full agreement on that.

And so the two groups split up once more, while Sora and his friends took care of Hook, Oswald carried Florian back to the Ortensia where they watched over Florian, who was beginning to become weaker as the minutes passed.

* * *

Sora and his friends took care of the evil Captain Hook with the aid of Peter Pan, who returned at the last moment to save Sora, Donald and Goofy from walking the plank, they even learned how to finally glide.

Meanwhile things were looking more bleak with Florian as he had lost conscious a while ago and has been racked with pain since.

"Poor kid, this must be painful for him, Lucille's probably feeling the pain too since their hearts are still connected." Oswald looked concerned over the tiny Seraph.

"Damn that Riku, I can't believe he'd do something so selfish, does he really believe Florian is the bad one here? Maybe he should look in a mirror!" Zen gritted his teeth.

"Not now, Zen. We need to figure out what do from here." Oswald gently scolded.

"How is he doing? I can't see his condition but I noticed he hasn't talked much in the last half an hour."

"It's probably due to the pact being strained by the two being in two different worlds."

"So the problem we have is figuring out where Riku went."

"I'll go check up on Sora and the others, keep an eye on him, okay?"

Oswald nodded as Zen left the gummi ship to return to Hook's ship. As he got closer to the upper deck where Sora, Donald and Goofy were, he could overhear a conversation they were having.

"I still can't believe it. I really flew! Wait 'til I tell Kairi and Lucille about it! I wonder if they'll believe me...probably not."

"You can bring them to Neverland sometime. Then, they could try it themselves." Peter Pan offered.

"If you believe, you can do anything, right? I'll find them. I know I will. I have so many things I want to tell Kairi about! About flying, the pirates and everything else that's happened!"

"Just believing huh?" Zen repeated, that definitely sounded like something that island girl would say at a time like this...Why did he feel so apprehensive and worried about her? Had she really managed to grow on him in that small amount of time? No, it couldn't be just that, for some reason, he felt a invisible connection to her, but he couldn't explain it.

Shaking his thoughts from his head, he called out to Sora. "Yo, looks like you taught that wicked pirate a thing or two."

"How's Florian? Is he any better?" Sora turned to face the greenette.

"No, I think he's actually gotten worse. If we leave things as they are, I don't think this will end well for either Florian or Lucille."

"When we fought Hook, he mentioned somewhere called Hallow Bastion, do you know anything about it?"

"Hallow Bastion...? Yeah, you could say I know about it. Are you saying that's where you think your sister and your friend Kairi is?"

Sora nodded.

"Then I think this calls for a team up. We're heading for the same place and want to save the same people."

"Actually, I ask going to ask if you could help us. You're Lucille's friends after all." Sora agreed.

"The question is what are we going to do about Florian? He won't be able to help us while he's like this, but I know he would hate it if we left to save Lucille without him." Zen crossed his arms as tried to think of a solution.

Tinkerbell flew over to tell Peter Pan something. "What's that Tink? What about the clock tower? You say there's something there?"

"You go on ahead, we'll meet you in Traverse Town. I'll try convincing Cid in the meantime to help you get to Hallow Bastion, it isn't going to be easy..." Zen told Sora.

"Alright, thanks Zen. See you later." Sora nodded and thanked the greenette before following Peter Pan to whatever was waiting for them at the clock tower.

When Zen returned to the Ortensia, he was shocked to see what he saw. A stranger that he never saw who seemed to be in some deep conversation with Oswald.

"And just where did you come from?" Zen narrowed his eyes and made himself known.

"Ah, so you're the rude one that Matoya's apprentice warned us about. Charmed. Name's Kuroshi, one of the Seraphim and Florian's former mentor." Kuroshi smiled and wave carefreely.

Zen looked confused and turned to Oswald.

"Apparently this fella is Florian's teacher from when he had just awakened as a Seraph over twelve years ago. Also I assume the apprentice he's talking about is Moira." Oswald told him.

"Oh right, the spazzy witch. But getting back to what we were talking about, Florian's that young? From the way he always carried himself, I imagined him to be older."

Kuroshi smiled. "That's my little fledging. The rabbit's right though, I became his teacher twelve years ago when he reawakened as a Seraph. I used to be the guardian of Destiny Islands as well until Florian took over for me."

"By the way, how are you even here? I thought Seraphim couldn't walk the Realm of Light without a pact partner." Zen crossed his arms.

"You're right, but I'm what you call a seasoned vet among my kind, a little visit to the Realm of Light isn't gonna hurt me that easily, still, if I was still a youngling like Florian or Ion, then that'd be a different story."

"You know Ion?" Zen became alert at this.

"Yup, I was his go-between between him and Yggdrasil, since Ion didn't really meld that well with our leader. Man, the fights those two would get into when they locked horns with each other. To be fair, Lord Yggdrasil does it to himself really, he's quite prickly when it comes to reminding the young ones that they shouldn't get too attached to the realm of light."

"He would get into fights with his leader?" Oswald noted with interest.

"It's mostly arguing about Lord Yggdrasil's strict rules about our contact with mortals in the Realm of Light. Anyway, that's not why I'm here, I've been asked to take Florian back to the Sacred Grove."

"The Sacred Grove?" Zen repeated.

"I guess you could say it's like a pocket of light within the Realm of Darkness that isn't completely devoured by darkness. I can't say anymore than that though, I'd get in trouble with our leader otherwise. Essentially, it's where all Seraphim gather in the Realm of Darkness when we're not guarding other worlds or patrolling the Realm of Darkness."

"So again, why do you want to take Florian back to this Sacred Grove?" Oswald demanded for an answer.

Kuroshi's grin faded a little. "Lord Yggdrasil told me of a loophole within the Seraphim pact. Apparently since the Realm of Darkness has no sense of time, taking Florian back to the Sacred Grove would essentially halt the deterioration of caused by the separation whiplash that comes with the pact."

"Problem is that as long as the kid's in the Sacred Grove, your friend won't have access to the Seraphic artes or her weapon, she'd essentially be a easy target for the Heartless."

"So in other words, Lucille won't be able to defend herself at all." Oswald clicked.

"It's a big risk, but at this rate, neither of them are going to last long if the pact between does break apart by force. Florian should be able to recover faster and return in time to return things back to normal by reuniting the two."

"So you want us to go save Lucille asap." Zen finalized.

"Essentially, yes. I know it's a gamble on your friend's safety, but what do you think she would have done if she had this choice?" Kuroshi asked.

"...Knowing that infuriating girl...she'd probably accept the risk if it meant Florian would get better." Zen sighed.

Kuroshi smiled. "You guys have come a long way. Don't worry, despite my station as a Seraph, I'm on your side. I'll make sure Lord Yggdrasil doesn't try and guilt-trip the kid into cancelling the pact."

"He would try that? Just because he's the leader of the Seraphim doesn't give him the right to boss them about." Zen frowned.

"Don't be too harsh on our leader. He's been suffering in his own way ever since the Keyblade War, his trust in mortals and humans alike was shaken badly. That doesn't excuse him for being too strict with the new-born Seraphim, but does mean well with his intentions."

"Sounds like he's acting like an overprotective dad." Oswald smirked.

"Huh, that's actually a pretty good description." Kuroshi looked thoughtfully.

"You realize Florian's going to furious when he finds out about this." Zen warned.

"Oh I know. That's why I'm counting on you to save your friend, okay?" Kuroshi nodded with a big smile.

"...You know you hardly act like how you appear. I expected you to be like this gruff mature soundin' swordsman. You're pretty laidback though aren't ya?"

"Hey, that's harsh man." Kuroshi pouted.

"I've been meaning to ask, what's Florian's connection to Lucille? From the way I've heard Florian talked about her, it's like he's known her for ages."

"He technically does. It's a little complicated, and I'm not allowed to reveal that kind of information without the kid's permission, it's personal stuff. Let's just say though, the girl was the reason Florian awakened as a Seraph to begin with, which is quite a feat given what he originally was previously before."

"Lucille was the reason Florian became a Seraph? Hmmm...sounds like that kid owes us an explanation once this is over." Oswald scratched his head in confusion.

"Well, we're counting on you too. You better keep Florian safe until we save Lucille, Lucille will be furious if anything happens."

"Oh don't worry, I'll make sure the kid finds his way back to you guys. Like I said, I'm rooting for you to prove Lord Ygggdrasil wrong after all. In the very least, this will buy you time to save her before the pact breaks completely. I certainly don't want to think of the worst case scenario."

"You're telling me. We better head to Traverse Town, we need to try convincing Cid to help Sora and his friends to get to Hallow Bastion."

Kuroshi picked up Florian in his arms. "Will you be okay going back there? Ion will be there, and chances are he won't be the same person you knew ten years ago. Although the seal over the keyhole that he placed remains strong, the darkness has taken a heavy toll on him, he could turn any moment now."

"...To be honest, I'm a little afraid at what I'll see what has become of both Radiant Garden and Ion. I'm not going to run away anymore from what happened ten years ago, I'm going to face it all head on. That idiot would probably tell me something corny to encourage us and find a way to save Ion without ending his life, I won't let Lucille suffer the same way Ion had to for all these years."

"You've grown up, kid." Oswald nodded proudly.

"What's that meant to mean?" Zen crossed his arms at the rabbit.

"Well, I'll be counting on you guys. Don't let me down, got it?" Kuroshi told them.

"Right, don't worry Florian, we'll save Lucille. Hang in there, kid." Oswald petted the small boy's head, although the boy was still unresponsive, he seemed to be vaguely aware of what's happening around him.

"I better get back to the Sacred Grove before his condition worsens. Good luck boys." Kuroshi opened a portal of light that supposing leads to this 'Sacred Grove' that the Seraph mentioned, taking Florian with him.

"Alright, I'll set us on a straight course to Traverse Town." Oswald turned to Zen.

 _'We're coming, Lucille. Don't you dare die on us before we get there.'_ Zen thought to himself.

 _"I wouldn't worry too much about Lucille's safety, Ava's protecting her as we speak, she'll keep her safe until we get there. You can trust her."_ Zen could have sworn he heard a voice from somewhere, he looked around confused and bewildered by what he just heard.

"Oswald, did you say something?"

"No, why?" Oswald raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"...What the hell was that just now?" Zen questioned himself before shaking his head, he could save those questions for another time.

* * *

Ion was secretly spying on the evil fairy that had been using the ruins of Radiant Garden as her personal base of operations for her nefarious plans.

As much as Ion would like nothing more than to get rid of her, he was powerless to do so, most of his strength was used to maintain the seal over the keyhole that he sealed off to stop the darkness from the realm of darkness from swallowing this last piece of Radiant Garden whole. Even though the Heartless claimed this world, they hadn't technically taken it's heart as a whole.

That was because Ion stopped that by blocking off access to the world's heart by using his own seraphic artes to seal away the keyhole. For a time, this has deterred and prevented the Heartless from claiming the world completely. He didn't know how but this evil fairy had been gathering the Seven Princesses of Heart that could undo his seal that he had spent so much of his strength to maintain.

Using so much of his power on the seal though has left him vulnerable to the darkness, for ten years, he had managed to starve off and resist it, but what little light that remained within him was slowly being chipped away, very soon, he won't even remember who he is.

He'll become just another puppet for the darkness to control. He had known darkness for so long, he had forgotten the warmth of the light that he had taken previously for granted and what precious memories he kept close were being corroded by time.

He saw a conversation unfolding between Maleficent and that boy that had reminded Ion first so much of Zen. He tried to warn him of Maleficent's cruel machinations, but it seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. He noticed how the silverette seemed to be in pain, was it because he had been using too much of the powers of darkness?

"It was reckless to bring both of them here without at least using a vessel. Remember, relying too heavily on the dark powers could cost you your heart." Ion heard Maleficent giving words of warning to the other boy.

"Zen...I wonder if he's okay, I hope that heartless claw hadn't given him too much trouble." Ion clutched what looked like a very odd shaped-looking charm that seemed to have been made by the hand of a child.

That was when they heard what looked like a beastly roar from afar, even though distant, it was a powerful roar.

"A castaway. Though his world perished, his heart did not. When we took the Princess from his castle, he apparently followed her here through sheer force of will."

"Sheer force of will..." Ion repeated, that was essentially what he had been doing for the last ten years, defying his evitable fate of being consumed by darkness. He would continue to fight it until he could no longer have the strength to, but even then, he now had very little time remaining.

"But fear not. No harm will come to you. He is no match for your power." Maleficent added, whispering what felt like poison to Ion's ears.

"My power?"

"Yes, the untapped power that lies within you. Now, child, it is time to awakened that power and realize your full potential."

Ion wanted to run out there and stop her, but he was powerless to do so. All he could was see the scene unfold.

"Now, child. Go and deal with our guest. I will prepare to reveal the keyhole that will lead us to Kingdom Hearts."

Ion didn't know where she got that crazy idea from, this world's keyhole had nothing to do with Kingdom Hearts, though it was but one pathway into the realm of darkness, but why would anyone want to go there willingly is beyond him.

"What about Lucille? Apparently the pact between her and that Seraph will eventually break so long as they're kept apart. I know they'll come here to get her though."

"Hmhm, that girl is quite special to you isn't she? Fear not, she will be kept under close surveillance along with the boy that you kindly managed to bring back here."

"Why did you ask me to bring that guy from Traverse Town anyway? He's just a normal guy."

"Ah, so you would think. The boy is actually the child of the royal lineage of this world. He is also the brother of the girl whose heart you're trying to bring back."

"Kairi? Wait, Kairi has an older brother?"

"Indeed, perhaps the girl's heart had taken refuge in the heart of another. What closer bond is there then family?"

"I see..."

"Now then, take care of the outsider. I shall personally check on the girl to see if she has awakened yet."

That was something that was beginning to worry Riku, Lucille should have regained her conscious by now, but she hasn't woken up yet. The words of what that boy Florian told him came back to haunt him, had he been...telling the truth? No, he couldn't believe a word of what the Seraphim said, they were the real enemy here...right?

Riku left to take care of the person who had fought their way to reach this world, leaving Maleficent in the room with a dark smile on her face.

When she was certain he was out of earshot, she spoke her thoughts aloud, unaware of Ion spying on her.

"At last, all the Princesses of Heart have been gathered. Better yet, I now have one of the Foretellers' chosen in my grasp, once I find the remaining four other hosts they have chosen, I possess the power to control the fate of all worlds!" She cackled.

Ion's eyes widened at this. Did she say the Foretellers' chosen? One of them was here? Perhaps...maybe they could help him turn the tide, he heard of the story of the Keyblade War from Lord Yggdrasil and spoke of the five foretellers who were each in charge of their own faction. Eventually, the struggle for Lux and the power-hungry search of a legendary keyblade that could reveal Kingdom Hearts, launched an all-out war where there was no winner.

Nobody knew what became of the Foretellers, not even Lord Yggdrasil. Ion decided to take his chances and follow the evil fairy to wherever she had locked away this 'chosen'.

* * *

In Traverse Town, Zen and Oswald finally arrived, much to their surprise, Sora, Donald and Goofy beaten them to the world.

"There you are! What took you so long?" Donald huffed and at them.

"You do realize I'm your prince right?" Oswald teased.

Donald suddenly realized this and quickly straightened up. "Wak! Forgive me, your highness!"

"Ah well, not that it matters right now. So I guess we didn't need to butter up Cid?" Oswald asked.

"Nope, he took the gummi navi piece we found and went to install it." Goofy answered.

"Do you guys happen to know what happened to Aster? I went to the accessory store to see him or Luma but couldn't find them anywhere." Sora asked.

"Really? That's odd. He's usually really punctual about his work. He can act rebellious sometimes though, so maybe he got into a fight with Cid and decided to not come to the shop. That has happened a few times." Zen offered an guess of what happened.

"Hmm...I dunno, if that's the case, Cid would be in a grumpy mood, did he seem that way to you guys?" Oswald turned to ask Sora.

"Nope." Sora placed his hands behind his head.

To their surprise, they saw not only Cid, but Leon, Aerith, Yuffie and Luma running towards them.

"Whoa, what brought the whole gang here?"

"You plan on going to Ra-I mean Hallow Bastion, right?" Leon demanded to know.

"Well, yeah. My friends are there along with my sister."

"Your sister? That reminds me, I don't see Lucille anywhere." Yuffie looked around for the brunette girl.

"I don't see Florian anywhere too." Aerith noted.

"They were captured and taken to Hallow Bastion, we're going there with Sora and his friends to save them." Zen explained, though he did feel a lot of guilt saying it.

"Then you won't like what you'll hear next." Cid gritted his teeth in a pained voice.

"Cid?" Zen looked puzzled. "Wait...what happened to Aster?" Dread starting to fill him when he realized Aster was nowhere to be seen with them, not even with Luma who he seemed to have become very fond of in the short time they had known her.

Luma sniffed. "He was kidnapped by some boy named Riku!"

"What?!" Sora couldn't believe what he was hearing. Kairi and Lucille made sense, but why kidnap someone he didn't even know?

"Apparently he showed up in the store and took Aster by surprise before he could fight back."

"Luma tried to help but..." Yuffie added and pointed to see how Luma's body was slightly cracked in places.

"He threw me back with some kind of dark energy, I couldn't even move. Even Moglette tried to help him." Luma started to well up with tears. "I'm so sorry, I couldn't help Aster, even after he was so nice to me! I'm a terrible Seraph..."

"Hey, it wasn't your fault. Aster wouldn't blame you either." Zen bent down and in a very un-Zen like action, he petted her head.

"Wait, the Moogle tried to fight Riku?" Oswald was surprised to hear that, Moogles were usually quite skittish and easy to scare off.

"Well Moglette is certainly a spirited one." Yuffie laughed sadly.

"Moglette got injured too, the other Moogles are taking care of her in their store right now." Aerith explained.

"Okay, now he's just getting stupid. Why kidnap Aster? Okay, I know the kid's heritage is important, that's true but...wait don't tell me Maleficent found out about that? Did she?" It dawned on Oswald.

"I'd like to know the hell she figured that out! We were tight-lipped about it." Cid growled.

"Wait, I'm totally lost here." Sora wanted to know what exactly was going on.

"Me too." Donald agreed.

"Oh I get it! Aster's actually a Prince isn't he?" Goofy, of all people, figured out the truth.

"...Wait... **WAK**?!" Donald shouted.

"No way, Aster's a prince? And you didn't tell me or even Lucille? She was travelling with you guys." Sora was wide-eyed in shock.

"Sorry...We did actually wanted to say something but Leon was adamant to keep it limited to just the survivors of their world and myself since I was there when the attack happened." Oswald explained while apologising.

"I know we'll probably get an earful from both Lucille and Aster later about it, but like Oswald said, we had wanted to say something. Not even Aster knows about it."

"You didn't even tell your prince the truth?" Donald questioned.

"It was complicated and a sensitive subject at the time. Ansem was the ruler of our world and Aster so happens to be his son, how do you think he would react if he found out he was the son of the one who let our home world fall to the Heartless?" Leon explained.

"I imagine that would have been a terrible weight to carry." Luma replied.

"Aster had lost his memory, he didn't even know who he was or who I was, and we were best friends." Zen added. "I won't lie, I felt guilty for hiding this from Aster, I really wanted to tell him everything but..."

"I told Zen to keep it to himself." Leon finished.

"That's awful Leon, friends shouldn't have to hide stuff from each other just because you told him too." Sora scolded.

"You're right. We realize now that we should have told him much sooner, then we could have prepared for such a scenario." Aerith shook her head sadly.

"We got careless and now Aster's been captured for our mistake." Yuffie sighed.

"Then it's simple, we're going to save not only Lucille and Kairi, but we're getting Aster outta there too." Oswald stated.

"As if that's even up for debate. Sorry Sora, I don't care if he's your best friend. I'm going to knock some sense into that moronic head of his." Zen punched his hand into his bandaged arm.

"Riku...I can't believe you would go this far. Lucille and Kairi would be mortified if they knew." Sora shook his head.

"C'mon, let's go to Hallow Bastion. We've got people important to us waiting to be saved." Oswald placed his hands on his hips.

Sora and Zen nodded in union, thinking the exact same words Oswald just said.

The two groups now united by a common cause, quickly left the first district to return to their gummi ships.

"Oh yeah, your new navigation gummi is installed now, go give em' hell!" Cid shouted out to them.

"Leon..." Aerith looked at Leon with a determined look on her face.

"Yeah, I know. Cid, how long do you think you could build a new gummi ship together?"

"Heh, just watch me, I'll get one fixed up in no time." Cid gave a smug smile and a thumbs up.

* * *

Whew, done! I had to cut out the fight with Hook since that was technically more an experience that happened with Sora rather than Lucille. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! Next chapter is going to be like a calm before the storm chapter as it will focus on Ion and his backstory before charging ahead into Hallow Bastion full-steam ahead.

I felt I needed to do this because poor Ion has been left out even though he's been mentioned multiple times in this story. Plus so much had happened this chapter that we needed a chapter to allow all the reveals from this chapter to digest XD

Also fun fact: I took a lot of inspiration of Kuroshi's personality from Zavied from Tales of Zesteria. :3

I understand if you want to skip that chapter and wait for the Hallow Bastion chapter. But if you can please read and/or review if you can, as I would love to hear your thoughts on the story so far. Don't worry, the Hallow Bastion chapter will definitely be a priority after the next chapter coming.

Anyways, on to the responses to last chapter's reviews. :3

 **~:Review Section:~**

 **Chirithy564:** Aw thank you. =3 And thank you for the review. I hope this Neverland chapter lived up to your expectations. =D

And of course, school and work are more important. ^-^

I hope you continue to enjoy the story. =D I plan to eventually expand the story through Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II, those two are planned right now. I might think about doing a Birth by Sleep one but I'll have to figure out how to work that one out when we get to the KH 2 saga. XD

 **Gry21** : :3 I'm not telling~ But we'll be seeing more of two certain Foretellers in the Hallow Bastion chapter coming after the Ion-centric chapter. But that is food for thought though, maybe they might, or they might not. =D

 **~:End of Review Section:~**

As usual, thank you very much to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, alerted or read the story so far. I hope that you continue to enjoy the fan fic and the future instalments that I plan to do once the KH 1 saga is over. =D

Until then, Happy Reading!

Moogle Empress out!

Moogle: Kupo!


	16. Special Episode: Silent Promise

Heya everyone, this is the special episode that I mentioned in the previous chapter before I work on the Hallow Bastion chapter.

What I mean by special episode means that it's a small side story dedicated to a certain character. This episode is dedicated to Ion, a character that had mostly only been mentioned previously and made a brief appearance waaay back in the story.

I hope you enjoy it. Don't worry, the Hallow Bastion chapter is being worked on as this chapter is uploaded.

While typing out this chapter, I listened to a Mipha's Theme cover with lyrics that I felt resonated with Ion's character very well. So if you're interested in listening to it yourself, put in youtube's search engine 'Mipha's theme cover' and look for a youtuber called Aria Rose and you'll find it. =D

So thanks to this person for giving me inspiration for this chapter! =D

Now then, let's go!

* * *

 **Special Episode: Silent Promise**

* * *

There was a young boy who was gazing at the flowers of the royal gardens that were opened to the public for all to enjoy. He looked only fourteen or fifteen in appearance, he honestly couldn't tell which one was the accurate number, although Seraphim could take any form they wanted, he found that the human form was the most common among his kind. He had cropped fire red hair that reached to his shoulders with eyes as blue as the sky.

He wore a blue sage robe with sleeves that went down until they reached the cuffs of his sleeves. He had a turtle-necked shirt underneath his robes that were a darker shade of blue. The robe went down to his ankles but his boots were still visible. The tabard that he wore over his robe had an insignia that looked like a curved heart, the same emblem that he often seen on a lot of the Seraphic clothing.

He had been the guardian to this world for quite some time now, during that time, he had seen many people come and go. He had even been present for the reigns of five rulers of Radiant Garden to their current ruler Ansem the Wise.

Tis indeed a strange feeling, to see mortals being born into this world, and seeing their life flash before his eyes as they grow older and eventually die to return to Kingdom Hearts, as all hearts do. Even stranger when you realize that Seraphim do not age in the same sense as mortals do. They could be over thousands of years old and still look like a child.

Ion sighed inwardly as he recalled an argument he had with Lord Yggdrasil not long ago. He had recently visited Ion's world to check up on him, and he had once again asked him to reconsider moving to another world, as Radiant Garden was no longer deemed safe given the lack of people who could see Ion now. In the past, Radiant Garden was full of people who could see Seraphim, but over time, those numbers dwindled to a very small handful.

It could very well be because Radiant Garden had become more of a world that was based on facts and knowledge rather than spiritual faith. Or at least that was his theory, even so, while it hurt to be forgotten or his existence as the world's guardian labelled as a myth at best, he loved this world dearly.

He could never part from it, not after looking after it for such a long time. As much as he knew Lord Yggdrasil was just being concerned and cared about his wellbeing as any good leader would. It also annoyed him to no end of how Lord Yggdrasil was still skeptical on trusting mortals even after all these years.

Yes, he understood that the Keyblade War was a terrible thing that should never be repeated, and it also resulted in decreasing the numbers of the Seraphim greatly. Times had changed since the Era of Fairytales, surely humans and mortals have learned from their mistakes.

That was what Ion believed anyway, it wasn't just over mortals that he argued with his leader over. Lord Yggdrasil had often cautioned them to not get too attached to the realm of light, otherwise their attachment could become an obsession and obsessions often resulted in turning to darkness for answers.

He replayed the argument in his head as they stood just outside where the keyhole was in Radiant Garden, in a part of the royal palace that is only allowed for royal blood to visit.

* * *

 _"I really don't get why you're so determined to keep us from making contact with other people. There's no harm in talking to humans." Ion argued, crossing his arms at the Elder Seraph._

 _"That isn't the point. Not all of them all nice, there are those who would take advantage if you let them. What if that person wanted to you to show them the Keyhole, would you?"_

 _"...Well...it would depend on the person, of course." Ion honestly answered._

 _Yggdrasil sighed. "You see, this is what I meant exactly. You're too emotional, you'd be wise to keep them in check, it's that kind of unpredictable nature of the hearts of mortals that could end up being your undoing."_

 _"And what's so wrong about that? You'd prefer if we didn't feel anything at all? That would make us no different than the creatures of darkness that we've been fighting this whole time! With all due respect, Lord Yggdrasil, we were given hearts for a reason, that's...what I think anyway." Ion shouted before he softened his voice to keep his frustrations controlled._

 _"That is true, we are given self-awareness and hearts of our own, that's what separates us from the creatures of the dark. You forget though, that body of yours originates from the wish your heart made all those years ago, even wishes, no matter how pure they are, can become twisted and corrupted over time if you forget what you wished for all those years ago. In that sense, we could become just as primal and dangerous as the beings of the dark themselves."_

 _"..." Ion couldn't counter that, despite how much he wanted to prove him wrong, there was truth in those words._

 _"Don't get me wrong Ion, having emotions and a heart is not a bad thing at all. In fact, I welcome that, but we must never forget that the heart is an unpridictable thing, it can be our most mightiest weapon of all, but it can also be our worst enemy. I'm not saying to discard your emotions, but unlike mortals, we are unfamilar with these raw yet strong feelings, we lack the understanding of what they mean or how to deal with them."_

 _"I...understand." Ion slowly nodded._

 _Yggdrasil came closer and gently petted the boy's head. "You know...many years ago, I was probably not that different from how you thought. It would be nice to see the world in the same light as the way you and children do. That's the tragic thing about getting older as time goes by, you slowly lose that innocence. Treasure it while you still can, it won't last forever."_

* * *

Yggdrasil's words struck a cord within him. Yggdrasil must have seen some truly traumatic things to become so jaded with how he viewed the world as it was now. He recalled hearing old rumors that Lord Yggdrasil had a pact partner once when he had been a young Seraph himself, but no one knew what happened to them. He also recalled hearing some tales about how Yggdrasil and the World Tree had some kind of deep bond between them.

No one could confirm it though, the only one who knew the truth was Lord Yggdrasil himself, and he kept his heart well-guarded all the time so no one could get the truth out of him.

Looking at the flowers always made him feel better after getting into such heated debates like that. He would have to thank Ansem later for the idea to come here to unwind.

Ansem, or Ansem the Wise as he was known by the people he ruled over was a good man, true to his title, he was quite the scholar but he always put his knowledge to benefit the lives of his people.

He had known Ansem since he had been still a young prince, even then he was an inquisitive child, often asking Ion about the Seraphim, he had asked about if there had been other worlds, but Ion being sworn to secrecy about them told Ansem he was not allowed to tell.

Ansem understood and respected that, but being the smart boy he was, he was able to click together to learn by himself that the likelihood of there being other worlds was high.

As the years went by, Ansem soon became the next king of Radiant Garden and had since then had two children of his own, both were able to see Ion just like Ansem could.

A kind-hearted yet mischievous boy named Aster and an adorable and precious girl named Kairi. Sadly the queen had died shortly after Kairi had been born, so the two lacked a mother, thankfully a kind-hearted old lady who had long served the royal family and also knew of Ion's existence filled that role as their 'grandmother', despite the fact they were not related by blood, the two children still treated her as family to them.

He wondered if Ansem's recent interest in the workings of the heart stemmed somewhat from his wife's death, since she had a weak heart all her life, a tragic health condition that thankfully didn't get carried over to either of her children. The queen was a loving and selfless woman loved by everyone, her passing was truly a loss felt in all of Radiant Garden.

"Hey, Ion!" He heard Aster's voice pull him out of his train of thought and turned to face the small seven year old. He had his father's eyes, but they were more hazel than Ansem's more orange/amber hue, Ansem always said his eyes might have scared people on first impression so he was glad his son had inherited warmer eyes than his own.

"Ah, Aster. I thought you were having sparring lessons with Sir Dilan, you aren't skipping them by any chance, are you?"

"Nah, Dilan's unwell so he couldn't do guard duty or train me today. Aeleus said that I'd be free until he gets better." Aster shook his head.

"I see. Poor Sir Dilan, let's hope he get better soon." Ion smiled.

"Oh yeah! Ion, there's someone I want you to meet, he's my best friend, so I wanted to introduce you to him."

"Oh? This is the first time you mentioned him." Ion laughed.

"Well...he's pretty shy, and a nerd, but he's really nice once you get to know him." Aster answered.

"Alright then, where is he?" Ion looked around for who this person could be.

"Huh? Did he run away again? Gah! Hold on, I'll get him." Aster looked around to see his friend had obviously hidden himself, seriously that guy is hopeless when it comes to talking to new people.

It didn't take long for Aster to spot him and drag him out. "C'mon Zen, don't be a chicken!"

"I'm-I'm not a chicken!" Came a very defiant outburst.

"Then prove it!" Came Aster's counter attack. With that, Aster brought over an even younger boy who looked two years younger than Aster with forest green hair.

"Oh I know you, you're the young boy that Lord Ansem decided to raise in the castle." Ion recognized right away.

This was the boy named Zen, around four years ago, Ansem found Zen in the royal gardens and decided to raise him in the castle alongside Aster and Kairi, so in a unofficial roundabout way, Zen was considered part of the royal family, even though he had no blood tie with any of them.

Aster certainly didn't seem to mind that at all considering how close the two seemed just by looking at them. This made Ion smile inwardly, it's true that some still treated Zen like an outsider since...well...he was from another world, but for the most part, Ansem treated Zen kindly while Aster and Kairi had essentially treated Zen like part of their family.

From what Ion saw, Zen was a quiet child, often kept to himself in the library of the castle, at first he kept his distance from Aster and Kairi, but it would seem Aster's perseverance had paid off and got through to the greenette.

He did note that Zen was particularly quite sweet to Kairi, then again, Kairi is most adorable girl you could ever meet, she could probably thaw the most coldest of hearts.

He never tested if Zen could see him or not since he didn't want to scare the child off. However, seeing how Zen was staring straight at him, it looks like Zen had the sight too.

Zen hid behind Aster upon hearing the Seraph speak to him. So he was timid was he?

"It's okay, Zen. Ion won't hurt you, he's really nice. He's the guardian of our world."

"You mean, this is the guardian that everyone says is a myth?"

Ion flinched a little at that.

"Ah, sorry! Was that rude to say?" Zen apologised quickly.

"No, you didn't offend." Ion shook his head and reassured the small boy. "It's been this way for a long time now. Not many people can see me anymore, but they can't be blamed for that. It's hard to believe in something that you can't see."

"Oh...Why can't people see you?"

"Well...how do I explain it? I suppose you could say Seraphim are like ghosts."

"Ghosts?"

"I heard that Seraphim can't wander around the Realm of Light like we can because they're um...what's the word Father used? Vune...ver..." Aster tried to explain but found it hard to say a word that was probably a little too advanced for his age.

"Vulnerable." Ion finished for him.

"Yeah, that's the one." Aster nodded.

"Well, your father is right. Our bodies are much weaker that yours so we get sick very easily from darkness. We need vessels that are untouched by darkness in order to walk around your realm. Sometimes just normal objects would work just as good. The vessel I use as my connection to this realm is a very important part of the world itself."

"An important part of our world? You mean like the castle?" Zen pointed towards the large castle that towered over the town.

"Heh heh, you're very close. It's somewhere in the castle, but not in a place that normal people can go." Ion nodded. He couldn't exactly tell the children that it was the core of Radiant Garden, the world's heart itself that he used as his vessel, but he could tell a white lie about it.

"Um, is it Ansem the Wise's study? Me and Aster can't go there."

"Nope." Ion replied easily.

"Aw..."

"Hey, Ion? Why do you think they want me to learn how to fight? I'd rather just be playing with Zen." Aster asked curiously.

"So you can protect yourself and others when you need to, you never know when that knowledge will come in handy down the road. Besides, you like Sir Dilan, don't you?"

"Well...yeah. He's a good teacher." Aster admitted.

"And you want to protect the people you care about right?" Ion continued.

"Of course! Definitely Kairi, Zen, Father, Grandma and you, I want to protect you guys the most."

Ion smiled warmly and petted Aster's head. "Then you have to work hard, okay?"

Zen looked at the many flowers that bloomed and grew in these gardens, his eyes latched on to a strange flower. "Hey, what's this odd looking one?"

"Oh, that. It's called the Silent Iona flower. Do you want to know why it's called that?" Ion explained.

Zen and Aster nodded with interest. "It was given that name because the name Iona in the ancient language means 'Promise' so it is technically called the flower is called 'Silent Promise'. But I think it's old name sounded better, so that's what I usually call it."

"But why are there so few of them? They're so pretty too." Zen asked.

"Silent Ionas are very hard to grow, it is said that the flower came from another world, and a traveller left a bag of seeds behind so the people of Radiant Garden could grow their own Silent Ionas here, they were in the past considered a sign of wealth for wealthy families because of how exotic and rare the flower is, but they learned that they did not last long indoors. So they can only grow out here in the royal gardens."

"Aw, that's a shame. Kairi would have loved these." Aster was saddened to hear that.

"I know, why don't we find Kairi together and then we can look at the Silent Ionas together?" Ion offered.

"Sure, that sounds like an idea. Kairi would really love to see these." Zen nodded.

And so they did just that, it wasn't hard to find Kairi since she is often seen around the flower beds, picking flowers. When they showed her the Silent Iona flowers, she fell in love with them right away.

"They remind me of you, Ion!" Kairi made a comment about them to Ion. If only Kairi knew just how close she was to the truth that he had been in fact an Silent Iona flower himself before being reborn as a Seraph...

It was so long ago, he couldn't remember his wish that clearly. He was certain though that it had something to do with wanting to protect the people of this world. What he did know for certain at this very moment that he wanted nothing more than to protect these children with all his heart.

* * *

A week had past since Ion's first encounter with Zen. Since then, Aster was under-going more studies as he was the next in line to the throne after Ansem the Wise, Zen was left on his own a lot more.

Kairi kindly offered to be his playmate when Aster wasn't around, but Zen declined her offer. Not because he didn't want to play with Kairi, it was because he didn't want people to start spreading rumours around him and Kairi if they were playing together.

It would seem the distrusting whispers about Zen and being labelled as an 'outsider' never went away, and they were starting to take a serious effect on Zen's low self-esteem and even less self-confidence.

Like before, he would shut himself away in the library to keep out of contact of people, it would seem this was Zen's way of coping with it. Ion's heart went out to the poor boy, he decided would throw Yggdrasil's constant lectures about keeping out of world affairs out of the window and make the first move.

"Hello there, Zen. I see you have your nose stuck in another book." Ion kindly spoke, sitting on a chair next to the reading table that Zen was sitting at.

"Oh...Lord Ion."

"Just call me Ion. It makes me feel old when you say that." Ion shook his head.

"...Sorry." Zen apologised.

"Don't be. Now then, why are you stuck inside this lonely place? It's a nice day outside." Ion asked.

"It's pointless. It's no fun going outside if you're the only one. Aster's busy so he can't play today and I doubt Kairi would want to play with a boy." Zen fibbed.

"Now I know that is a lie, I saw Kairi offer to play with you not long ago." Ion pointed out a flaw in his lie.

Zen sighed and placed a bookmark on the book he had been reading before closing. "Why do you even care? I'm not part of this world, remember? I'm just some stupid outsider." Zen bitterly said, he had a pained look on his face and looked downwards.

"I care about all the people in this world, that includes you." Ion answered.

"You're just saying that to make me feel better. I...don't belong in this world, so don't bother lying to me." Zen didn't believe it.

Ion shook his head. "So...can I ask what you were reading? Is it a good book?" Ion decided to change the subject to see if he could win Zen over that way.

Zen quickly covered the book with his arms with a bright redness in his cheeks. "N-no, you can't look! You'll make fun of me!"

"Zen! I'm hurt! How can you judge me like that?" Ion dramatically faked his acting.

"I can tell you're fibbing." Zen said with a blank unimpressed look on his face.

"Heh, five years old and already able to tell bad acting when they see it. Not bad." Ion laughed, he found that Zen was laughing with him. A good sign indeed, his approach was working.

"Seriously though, I promise I won't make fun of you. I'll stake my honour as a Seraph on it." Ion reassured.

"...You...won't laugh right?" Zen slowly began to remove his arms from the book cover.

"I cross my heart and hope to die." Ion nodded while tracing a single finger over his chest as to illustrate his point.

Zen seemed to still be doubtful but eventually removed his arms completely to reveal the title of the book.

"Ah, an adventure romance fantasy novel. An interesting choice of literature." Ion smiled with sincerity in his voice.

"You...aren't going to make fun of me for liking these kind of books?" Zen seemed genuinely surprised.

"Of course not. I'm actually quite fond of such books myself, it gives a sense of comfort to the reader, a way to escape from your problems in real life when you're transported away into another world woven within the book." Ion shook his head.

"Huh, you're the first besides Aster to say that. Well...he didn't exactly say it like that, but he likes reading stories like this too. His favourite is 'I want to be your Canary', I tried looking for it but this place is so big, I don't know where to start." Zen confessed.

"Oh, I know that one. It's an amazing book. If my memory serves me correctly, I believe I remember where I last saw the book." Ion looked around the library shelves.

"Really?! Can you show me where? U-um, only if you want to though, I understand if you're too busy, since you're a Guardian and all." The words left Zen's mouth before he even realized it, he then quickly tried to backtrack since it might have come off too strong.

Ion laughed. "Trust me, Zen. You'd be amazed how much free time I have right now. Come on, I'll help you find it. You'll soon see why Aster is very fond of it."

And so they spent a good few hours combing the shelves for the book in question, all the while their bond grew in that short time. They eventually found it and even read it together, Ion never felt so content as he did now.

For Zen, he not only found a new favourite book to read, but he felt he had made another best friend within Ion. For the first time in a while, Zen's heart felt lighter than it did before.

* * *

Eight months have passed, Ion and Zen had become very close during their days reading in the library. Who knew that Ion had a love for books too? Zen had become quite a fan of Lord Avon's works, the man who wrote 'I want to be your canary'. No wonder it was one of Aster's favourites.

In one of the rare days where Aster was free, he hung out around Zen and Ion in the library, just the three of them talking while eating some Sea Salt Ice Cream, a delicious desert that become quite the craze in this world, all started by a strange old duck who Ion could _swear_ was from another world.

During those months, a lot of things had happened. The old woman who had been affectionately called Grandma by Aster, Zen and Kairi sadly passed on and her heart had returned to Kingdom Hearts, the three children were devastated by the loss for a long time, they eventually cheered up, but they would always dearly miss her.

Five months before their 'Grandma's' death though, a strange man found himself washed up in this world in the main plaza of the town, in a manner very similar to how Zen arrived. Most people seemed to have welcomed him since Ansem took him under his wing as one of his apprentices.

Zen and Aster seemed a little nervous around that stranger though. Especially Zen, he seemed afraid of him, but why?

"Hey, don't you guys think that Xehanort guy is kinda weird? He keeps staring at Zen with this creepy look." Aster started.

"Wha?! He does?" Zen looked startled at this, he really hadn't noticed?

"I must admit, there is something off about him. I know it is not my place to judge someone on appearance alone, but I can feel some kind of enigmatic aura coming from him."

"..." Both of the boys looked confused.

"That means mysterious, but it's not the good kind of mysterious." Ion smiled and explained in more simple words.

"Well, he better not try anything funny with Zen while I'm around. I don't care if he's Father's favourite apprentice, I'll kick him in the shins." Aster huffed.

Ion chuckled at this. "Not quite becoming of a prince, but I as a friend, I would full-heartedly agree."

"That man...he scares me..." Zen admitted.

"It'll be okay, Zen. You know that Lord Ansem would never let anything happen to you." Ion comforted.

"I'm not so sure about that. Father doesn't come out of his study anymore...that research he's doing on the heart seems to be more important than us now." Aster narrowed his eyes sadly.

Ion gently petted the boy's head. "Well then, I certainly wouldn't let anyone lay a finger on you two or Kairi."

"Really?"

"Of course, I'm the guardian of this world, remember? What kind of Guardian would I be if I slacked off at my own job?" Ion joked.

"Heh heh, yeah. That's true." Aster giggled.

"Oh, that's right! Ion? Do Seraphim have birthdays?" Zen asked innocently.

"Birthdays?" Ion raised an eyebrow at this. "Huh, you know I never really thought about it." Ion answered.

"Hey, maybe this is a good time to show what we made for him then, Zen. Consider it a present from me, Zen and Kairi!"

Zen nodded and took out what looked like crudely made charm with Radiant Garden's emblem, but Ion could tell a lot of love and effort went into making it.

"We worked together to make it! There was this blonde kid we met months back, he showed us this thing he called a 'Wayfinder'." Zen started.

"He told us that his friend made it for him and their other friend, it was a way to keep them connected to each other no matter how far apart they are. We were only able to make one right now, but we plan to make one for all four of us." Aster added.

"But we wanted to give you the first one. Um, sorry if it's not very good, we got some help from the Moogles for the hard parts." Zen finished.

Ion gently picked up the small charm and looked at it lovingly. What was this warm feeling in his heart that he felt? He wanted to treasure this emotion he felt forever.

"I love it. It doesn't matter if it looks oddly-shaped, I can tell how much effort and care was put into making it. I feel that's the most important thing behind any gift. Thank you so much for such a lovely gift. I'll have to thank Kairi too, she helped make it as well didn't she?"

"Yeah! She gathered the flowers we pressed into it. Like Zen said though, we did get help from the Moogles for the really hard parts. Charm-making is tough, I wonder how the Moogles are able to do it every day?" Aster nodded, pleased that Ion liked their present.

Ion laughed. "Well, Moogles have very talented paws, after all."

They heard someone entering the library and became alert at this. Zen involuntarily shivered when he saw who it was. It was Braig, one of the royal guards of the castle, but unlike Dilan or Aeleus, Aster didn't like Braig at all.

"Hey there little prince, you're spending your time cooped up indoors instead of playing outside?" Braig confidently spoke.

"What we do with our spare time is none of your business." Aster scoffed.

"Yeesh, harsh, little prince. Oh yeah, greenie, Lord Ansem wanted to talk to you." Braig turned his attention to Zen.

"Me? But why?" Zen looked confused at this.

"Heck if I know, I'm just the messenger boy here." Braig shrugged.

"Hold on, I'm going too! There's no way I'm letting Zen go alone, especially not with you." Aster risen from his chair.

"No can do. He explicitly said Zen alone." Braig smirked.

"I...I'll be okay, Aster." Zen was clearly frightened but he tried to stay strong to not worry his best friend.

"But-"

"I'll go with him, it's at times like this that being invisible to most people in this world comes in handy." Ion told Aster.

Aster looked at Ion and softly nodded.

Zen followed Braig out of the library to wherever Lord Ansem was waiting, Aster looked on with worry, but he knew Ion would keep him safe.

Ion walked beside Zen, gently taking hold of the five year old's hand to reassure him that he was there.

They found themselves in a part of the castle that neither of them had actually been to before. Ion figured that this place was made recently, since it didn't seem part of the main castle itself.

Zen had become more evidently worried and to be honest, Ion was starting to suspect something was very wrong about this.

"Aha, here we are. Now this is where things get interesting." Braig said cryptically, opening the door to the study, they entered inside. However, it wasn't Lord Ansem they saw inside.

"...You're...Xehanort." Zen's grip tightened around Ion's hand, Ion's eyes started to narrow as his fears proved to be accurate.

"Ah good, you brought the child. I have to admit, finding another who originally came from another world was quite a discovery. And one with such an unusual background."

"Wasn't easy getting the little prince to let the brat go." Braig crossed his arms.

"That's no concern. You can leave us for now Braig."

"Fine by me, I was getting bored standing around anyway." Braig waved off and exited the study.

"What do you mean by that? What do you intend to do with Aster?" Zen spoke up.

"Nothing, child. He's not my target and neither is his sister. You, however, are a different story. I am most intrigue about your origins, considering not even you know where you come from. We are similar in that aspect." Xehanort smiled softly, but there was no warmth in it.

"I..." Zen wasn't sure what to say to that.

"Let me tell you something very interesting. Did you know that a heart can shelter more than one heart?"

"Huh?"

Ion looked surprised by this as well.

"A heart can become a host to another, or rather in your case, it has taken sanctuary in yours. As you know, I was washed up on this world with no memories myself, but there are some things that I've noticed about myself that I have not spoken to anyone of. Not even to Lord Ansem."

"One of them, is that I able to see things that no normal person can. I can tell the person that dwells within you is an ancient and strong heart, a powerful light indeed. I also know that you aren't alone right now, the guardian of this world is with you, isn't that right, Lord Ion?" Xehanort stared straight at Ion.

"You can see me?!" Ion jumped back in surprise.

"You really didn't think I could not see you? How naïve. I'm not like most of these ignorant fools."

"Ignorant?" Ion repeated.

"Surely you have noticed yourself, the people of this world have long forgotten that they owe their peaceful lives to the Seraphim, who keep a constant watch on the balance of light and dark. The Seraphim who are creatures of the light, yet are similar to Heartless in many ways. During my time researching the heart, I have come to relaize a dark truth, that the heart's source truly comes from darkness itself."

"Heartless? Either way, you're wrong. The heart is so much more than a hotbed for darkness to grow. You don't understand the heart at all! You mock the people of this world for being ignorant, but from what I see, you're the ignorant one!"

Xehanort laughed. "Lord Ansem told me a very similar thing when he decided to cancel our research into the Heart."

"Really? Lord Ansem wanted to stop his research?" Zen looked surprised at this.

"Apparently, he grew guilty of what we were doing, of the experiments that we were conducting down here. In the end, he wanted to stop all our research, even after we had learned so much from it. I personally blame that infuriating mouse king for putting the seeds of doubt in him."

"Mouse king?" Ion looked confused. Did someone from another world come here? How the heck did he not notice that?

"No matter though, Lord Ansem will not stop me from continuing with my work. Not that he can do anything now." Xehanort smirked.

Zen looked shocked. "Wait, what did you do to Lord Ansem? Where is he?"

"Oh, he's taking a long vacation within the Realm of Darkness."

"You what?! Just who are you, Xehanort?" Ion flashed dangerously, he was now more on guard than ever.

"Wouldn't you like to know? Now then, I suppose I should come clean with why I asked Zen to come here, under the guise of it being it a request of Lord Ansem's. I doubt the boy would be so willing to come here if he knew it was me."

Zen gasped and hid behind Ion.

"I don't know what you're planning but there's no way you're getting your hands on Zen!" Ion summoned his seraphic weapon which was a wizard staff.

"As if either of you had a choice." Xehanort shook his head and casted some kind of dark magic. He saw two black circles below him that suddenly lunged out and pinned Ion down to the ground and his weapon dropped to the ground with a clatter before vanishing again.

"Ion! Are you okay?!" Zen cried out, trying to pull the black hands off the Seraph.

"You...used the power of darkness? You're no researcher!" Ion gritted his teeth and tried to break out of his binds.

"Struggle all you want, you won't escape those binds. As for where my power comes from, you could say that I decided to awaken the truth within me and now I remember everything. Now that I think about it, I have never experimented on a Seraph, this will be an interesting experience."

"Why...? Why are you doing this?!" Zen sobbed.

"I intend to awaken the other heart that is sleeping within you. The one who has far more worth than you, the Foreteller of old."

"What...?"

Xehanort didn't say anything else instead casting a sleep spell over Zen, causing him to lose conscious quickly.

"Zen! Keep away from him you psychotic freak!" Ion struggled harder.

There was nothing he could do as they were both dragged by Xehanort away from the study into the deeper parts of the castle.

* * *

"Hey! Wake up! Open your eyes, c'mon snap out of it!" Ion could vaguely hear someone's voice calling out to him. He slowly opened his eyes, they felt as heavy as lead to open.

The first thing he noticed was that he was in a dark cell of some kind. He saw what looked like a black and white rabbit trying to shake him awake.

"Ugh...my head. I feel like I've been asleep for years."

"Well, ya did seem pretty out of it. I dunno what they were doing to you, but it looks like you've been here for days."

"Days?" Ion looked confused and lost for a moment but his memory soon came flooding back to him. "Zen! Where is Zen?" He tried to sit up, but his head still felt like it was pulsing.

"Whoa! Settle down, you just woke up from a long sleep." The rabbit tried to warn him.

"I...I can't rest right now, I need to save Zen. That man, Xehanort, he's going to do something to Zen!"

"Zen? There's another person locked away down here?"

"Can you please help me? I need to save him." Ion begged.

"Don't even need to ask, just point the way. Name's Oswald. Oswald the lucky rabbit." The rabbit smiled.

"I'm Ion." Ion smiled and introduced himself back.

They left the cell to find themselves in what looked like a hallway of other cells.

"Where is this place? It reeks of darkness." Ion crinkled his face in disgust.

"I think this is where that guy with the long silver hair has been keeping all his victims."

"Victims?" Ion looked into one of the cells and cried out in horror. It was a creature of the dark that lurked inside, hissing and garbling noises.

"They're called the Heartless. Or at least that's what I gathered from listenin' in."

"Heartless...So these are just another form that the darkness can take shape from. Oh no, what if...We have to find Zen fast!" Dread filled him when he realized Xehanort could have done something very similar with Zen's heart.

"What brought you here, Oswald? How did you find this place?" Ion wondered.

"Heh, I'm a Keyblade Master trained by the great former Master Yen Sid himself." Oswald puffed his chest proudly. "Master Yen Sid asked me to investigate when he sensed something had gone wrong with Radiant Garden."

"I wonder what's happening up there?" Ion looked upwards, he hoped that Aster, Kairi and everyone else who lived above were safe.

"To be honest, not good. There's been people being kidnapped left and right from the town and brought here for experimenting."

"Are you serious?!" Ion gasped.

"Deadly. I'm worried that we're running out of time." Oswald nodded.

That was when they heard some screaming going on above them.

"Was that a scream?" Ion's eyes widened.

"Oh no, things must have gotten real bad, last I checked, there's Heartless crawling all around up there. Let's find this kid and bail." They hastened their search, looking through various cell doors, each one holding a different kind of Heartless. It almost made Ion want to cry for all the poor souls who had their hearts tampered like this.

Xehanort was someone without a shred of morality for his actions. _'How could I have let this happen? This is all my fault...'_

"Hey...have you looked at yourself recently?" Oswald asked the Seraph.

"Hm?" Ion seemed confused by such a question.

"Actually...no, forget I said anything." Oswald then shook his head and brushed off his question.

Eventually Ion found the cell that held Zen. Oswald used his keyblade, a weapon that he had only heard about from Lord Yggdrasil and other Seraphim before now to unlock the cell door.

"Zen, Zen, can you hear me? It's Ion." He tried calling out to the small boy who looked almost dead and lifeless.

After a minute or so, Zen finally stirred from his stupor. "Ion...?" Zen slowly realized as recognition kicked in. He gasped and crawled backwards. "No! Please, don't look at me!"

"Huh?" Ion looked puzzled but on closer expectation, he gasped in disbelief. One of Zen's arms had been replaced by a Heartless claw, and it pulsed with raw dark energy.

"Please don't come near me. I...I don't want to hurt you too. I don't want to steal any more hearts!"

"Steal hearts? Oh Zen, what did Xehanort do to you?!" Ion felt physically sick, never before had he hated anyone so much than Xehanort right now. Wait...where did that come from? Did Xehanort do something to him while he was unconscious?

"Poor kid, this is awful. What kind of sick mind does this guy have to do this to a kid?" Oswald felt sympathy for the child. "Hey, don't you worry little guy, you'll be okay. We're here to help."

"B-but, I did awful things! I didn't want to...the arm just acted on it's own, I couldn't control it." Zen sobbed uncontrollable, wrecked with guilt and disgust at what he was made to do.

"Zen..." Ion approached and hugged the boy tightly. "You aren't the evil one here, Xehanort was the one who did this to you. I know you can fight this darkness, you're not a monster, nor are you weak."

The boy sniffed and hugged back Ion. "You aren't afraid of me, even with this ugly thing?"

Ion shook his head. "You're still the same Zen I've always known, not even Xehanort will change that. I'm so sorry, I failed you and everyone else in this world. I should have never let this happen."

Zen felt exhausted but it felt so comforting in the Seraph's embrace, even though he could no longer see Ion like he could before, he knew he was there, that he was hugging him. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Ion noticed that Zen had fallen asleep and gently stroked his hair. _'Xehanort. I will **never** forgive you for this.'_

 _"..._ Hey, I need you to do me a favour, can you keep a secret?"

"A secret?" Oswald repeated in confusion.

"I plan to seal away Zen's memories of his time down in this awful place. I don't want him to remember what Xehanort did to him, at least not right now. Maybe when he's older and prepared to take on the pain, I'll restore them. I'm just worried that he could break if he remains the way he is now."

"So you want to keep it hidden until he's ready to take on the pain of that memory?" Oswald summarized.

"Please? You're the only other person besides me who learned what has happened here."

Oswald nodded. "Alright, I promise. The kid didn't deserve any of this."

Ion nodded and proceeded to cast a Seraphic arte that allowed him to seal any memory he wished to keep hidden from Zen's chain of memories. He carefully took all the pieces that involved Xehanort and this dark place and sealed them away into the far reaches of Zen's mind.

"There. I'll be depending on you to act as his moral compass when he needs it, okay?" Ion turned to the rabbit.

"Why, are you going somewhere?" Oswald questioned.

"I'm the guardian of this world, I have to protect the world's core from the encroaching darkness. I want to find two other children as well, their names are Aster and Kairi, please take them somewhere safe, far away from here." Ion told him.

Ion then gently handed Zen over to Oswald. "I'm trusting you with children who are very precious to me, please so long as they are safe, I have no regrets. Their safety is all that matters. So please."

"...You bet. I'll keep those three safe or my name ain't Oswald." Oswald nodded with a grin.

"Thank you. Oh yeah." Ion quickly ripped off a big chunk of his robe and wrapped it around Zen's arm. He then quietly casted a Seraphic arte over it that seemed to have made the Heartless claw less dangerous.

"It's not permanent solution, but it will keep that darkness coming from that claw at bay. Be sure to find someone who can do a better job than I did."

"I know a guy named Merlin, he'll know how to deal with this kind of thing." Oswald nodded.

Ion nodded in gratitude, he then stood up and stroked Zen's hair one last time. "I know that you'll grow up with a brave and good heart, Zen. Don't ever lose sight of your light." With that, he rushed off to quell the darkness that was seeping into this world when he had been absent and away from his post. Leaving Zen in the care of Oswald.

* * *

Things were even worse than Ion could have ever imagined, those creatures, the Heartless were swarming all over the town, stealing the hearts of any that crossed their line of vision.

He could only hope that Oswald was able to find those children before these horrible monsters did.

As he ran towards the castle, he saw an man trying to fend off the Heartless while protecting three children behind him. Two girls and a boy, the youngest one crying her eyes out.

"Keep yer claws away from the kids, ya little punks!" Cid was firing what looked like a makeshift cannon that was surprisingly effective.

Ion decided to lend a hand, he casted a seraphic arte and fired it. "Holy Lance!" A beam of light was summoned forth, piercing and burning the Heartless away in a wave of light.

"...The hell was **that**?" Cid blinked with a dumbfound look.

The older girl seemed to have noticed Ion and smiled at him, mouthing a quiet thank you to him.

Ion smiled and nodded. He then moved on towards the castle. He just hoped he wasn't too late. He needed to save as many lives as he could.

* * *

He fought through the countless Heartless that seemed to be multiply faster than he could kill them. He'd have to hurry to the world's heart and fast, if these guys got to the core and devoured it, it would be the end of Radiant Garden. As he continued his climb upwards, he noted that his body felt physically weaker than it ever had before all this happened, he had no idea why though. Just what did that Xehanort do to him? His entire time in that dark dreary place was all fuzzy and blurry to his memory. He looked out an open window for a moment to see a horrible sight.

The world was starting to crack and tear apart, the town's crumbled before his eyes, along with the ground below it, he could feel the ground began to shake and rumble.

"This is bad, the world is starting to fall apart. I still have time to save the castle though, if I can do that..." With renewed determination, Ion continued his climb.

Eventually he came to the chamber where the keyhole to this world was, as he was climbing up the stairs, he saw what looked like an evil fairy.

"Stop! That's as far as you go!" Ion rushed forward so he was facing her and blocking her path to the keyhole of this world.

"Ah, the guardian of Radiant Garden, I had heard of your existence. I had thought that man had disposed of you, it seems he failed."

"What are you talking about?" Ion demanded, bringing forth his seraphic weapon once more.

I had heard that he had disconnected you from your vessel so it was left completely unguarded, to think you have not fallen into darkness yet, Seraphim are more durable than I thought." Maleficent told him.

Ion blinked, in all the panic and chaos, he hadn't actually taken time to notice that he did feel weaker than he did before Xehanort captured him and Zen, but he just thought that was from whatever drug he used to keep him asleep.

"Oh, could it be that you had not realized that you've been wandering the Realm of Light without a vessel? I believe that's very dangerous for your kind, is it not?"

Ion gritted his teeth. He recalled Oswald's words earlier.

"Hey, have you looked at your yourself recently?"

Ion gazed into the reflection on the wall that usually hid the location of the keyhole. He saw that his body had undergone some serious degree of corruption, one of his blue eyes had turned yellow, the same kind of yellow that the Heartless had. "No...Xehanort...he must have exposed me while I was held captive, after he removed my connection to the world's heart." Ion was horrified.

"And so the dutiful guardian becomes one of the fallen Seraphim. That is usually the point of no return for your kind, I believe." Maleficent gave a cold smile.

"My body may have been corrupted, but my heart and mind hasn't, not yet. I'm still this world's guardian, if I can at least protect the heart of this world from likes of you and Xehanort, then I'll use every last bit of my strength to ensure that. I know that someday, someone will come here and free this world from the darkness you have unleashed on this world."

"Hmph, you're such a naïve fool. What possible power do you have against the power of the Heartless and Darkness at my command?"

Ion smiled confidently. "There's still one trick up my sleeve." With that Ion dived into the keyhole.

"Get him you fools! Don't let him escape!" Maleficent barked orders at the tiny insect like Heartless chased off after Ion.

Meanwhile inside the keyhole, Ion found the heart of Radiant Garden, it was a ball of light that even in the depths of this darkness, still radiated a warm and gentle light.

"I can't re-join with the heart of this world while being corrupted like this. I can do something though. I can seal off the Keyhole using my seraphic artes, but maintaining that seal will consume a lot of my strength. Eventually, the darkness will claim me..." Ion shivered, it wasn't an ideal solution but it was his only choice if he wanted to stop this world from sinking into the Realm of Darkness.

For the first time, he was scared of dying, he knew that in the end, he would have to die in order to keep the corruption within from spreading to others and he knew that there was no known cure for it, that's why so many Seraphim fell to darkness in the Keyblade War.

But...he knew it had to end this way, he didn't want to die, but it had to be done. He looked at the wayfinder that the children made for him. "Zen, Aster, Kairi...even if we never meet again, I'll never regret the days we spent together. I promise that I will keep Radiant Garden safe for you until the light returns to this world. Please...remember me every now and then." No longer hesitating, he casted the Seraphic Arte to seal the keyhole away. It was an arte so powerful that only the legendary Seven Princesses of Heart could undo it.

And he faded into the light.

* * *

Ion panted as he made his way through the hallways of ruined castle of Radiant Garden, now renamed as Hallow Bastion by Maleficent. He was struggling to keep up with the evil fairy, usually he couldn't move that far away from the chamber of Hallow Bastion's keyhole since he was literally the source of the seal, now that Maleficent had gathered all Seven Princesses of Heart though, he had very little time remaining, he couldn't afford to just wait around.

Not just because the Princesses could undo his seraphic arte easily, but the darkness's hold over his heart was getting stronger, he was losing the fight.

"Please...just give me a little more time..." Ion clutched the slightly worn wayfinder that was made so long ago, he always used this as his reminder of what he was fighting for, the promise that he made back then.

As he got closer, he strangely sensed a familiar heart. "...Aster?" Ion then shook his head and continued following Maleficent in secret, maybe he was really starting to lose his grip on reality.

* * *

And there, special episode now finished! About time he got some well-needed character development. XD

Anyways, the Hallow Bastion chapter is now underway, so we will be returning to the main story next chapter. =D

I hope this chapter helped flesh-out what happened ten years ago in Radiant Garden a little from Ion's point of view.

Hopefully it wasn't too much or complex, I'm actually pretty satisfied with how this chapter turned out in the end, had to do a few changes here and there. =D

Alright then, I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter! Please read and review and let me know what you think. ^0^

Speaking of reviews, review corner time~

 **~:Review Section:~**

 **Ctran03931:** Thank you for your review! I was actually going to give Gula a bit of a spotlight in this special episode originally, but I had to remove it since it would have caused a plot hole with Ion and Oswald. But never fear, the Foretellers (at least two of them anyway =P) will be appearing next chapter.

I hope you like how I decided to incorporate them into the story, I'll just say that it's very similar idea of how Ventus joined with Sora's heart at the end of BBS's secret ending. =D

 **Chirithy564:** Thank you for your review! =D KH Days is the one with Roxas as the main protag if I remember, right? Sure, if I can figure out how to fit the Radiant universe into that story, I'll definitely do it. I plan to do all of them if I can, just have to figure out how to fit it all in without making jarring to the canon story. ^-^

 **Gry21** : Thank you for the review! I'll definitely get that chapter as soon as I can. =D

 **~:End of Review Section:~**

As usual, thank you very much to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, alerted or read the story so far. I hope that you continue to enjoy the fan fic!

Until then, Happy Reading!

Moogle Empress out!

Moogle: Kupo!


	17. Episode 16: Dearly Beloved

Heya everyone! =D

Now we're finally at the Hallow Bastion chapter(s), considering that a lot is going to happen in this particular world, there's most likely going to be two or three chapters dedicated to this world. =3

Anyways, let's go!

* * *

 **Episode 16: Dearly Beloved**

* * *

The first thing Lucille noticed as soon as she opened her eyes was the stained glass floor that was seen in her dreams.

"Ugh, what happened? Am I dreaming again?" She asked as she looked around the surroundings that she was disturbingly starting to get used to seeing often.

"I remember being in that cabin with Kairi. Then..." She gasped as the memory resurfaced in her mind. "Riku! That jerk! He knocked me unconscious! But wait...why does my heart hurt like this?"

"You're suffering from the whiplash effect caused by you and your Seraph partner being separated. Your heart is recovering for now, don't worry, I'm helping with healing your heart, so you should be able to wake soon." A voice spoke.

Lucille scanned the area carefully until she finally found the likely owner of that voice.

It was the same pink-robed girl with a fox mask covering her face. As before, she carried a kind yet sage-like aura around her. As if despite her appearance, she carried wisdom that was well beyond her years.

"Wait, I remember you! You showed up here when we were in Agrabah." Lucille told her.

The young woman smiled. "I'm so happy that we are able to connect again after so long. I've always wanted to be able to pay back the kindness you showed me all those years ago."

"Huh? We...met before?" Lucille raised an eyebrow.

"Heh heh, maybe I should explain in better detail. Maybe we should sit down, it's a long story."

Lucille sat down cross-legged on the stain-glassed floor of the platform, followed by the girl who also sat down in a formal manner on her legs. It made her look so refined and elegant.

"My name is Ava. In the ancient past, I was one of the Five Foretellers that were apprentices to the Master of Masters, the very first among us who possessed a Keyblade." The young girl known as Ava introduced herself.

"The Foretellers? Wait, Ava as in Master Ava? Chi's former Master!"

"That's right. Thank you for looking after my Chirithy, I'm actually quite fond of the name you gave her. Now that I think about it, I never really thought about if Chi had been a boy or girl before. She seems to comfortable with being considered a girl though." Ava laughed softly.

"We also have two of your books in our possession. Sorry about looking through them without your permission!" Lucille apologized.

Ava shook her head. "Don't be. Technically, that book along with the other four is meant to be inherited to you and four others like you. This is a little confusing to explain, but I'll do my best."

"Okkaaay?" Lucille looked puzzled but continued to hear Ava's tale.

"You see, as I'm sure Chi and your friends have told you, there was a terrible war known as the Keyblade War, that raged at the end of the Era of Fairytales. The five of us, had wanted nothing more than to avoid that war from happening but...as you can see, that impossible to begin with. The Master foresaw it, but...I also fear that he may have intended for this to happen all along."

"Your Master wanted the Keyblade War to happen? That...doesn't make any sense."

"Yes. I don't understand his reasoning either. We were all once so close, but as the fated day drew nearer, we started to doubt each other and accuse the other of being the traitor among us. I think Gula had it the worst out of all of us, he told of me of his role, how he was suppose to find the traitor, so he had to keep his distance from all of us."

"I think deep down, he wanted to trust in us, but his role made it impossible for him. I didn't even know about this until it was too late. The Keyblade War transpired, and the old world was torn asunder in the process."

"So that's how all the worlds ended up fragmented like they are now."

"Yes, even the Lux Fragments that you helped search for with your friends, were once much bigger in size and power. Eventually they became shards, small but powerful sources of light, but still a fraction of the power they once held. The more light that the darkness consumed, the less lux there was." Ava told her.

"So...what happened to you guys after that?"

"I'm...not sure. I think we lost our bodies and became hearts wandering the darkness of the Realm of Darkness as it became known in future. I'm not sure how long I spent there, it could have been hundreds of years for all I know, but the longer I spent there, the more I started to forget things, about who I was...my friends...everything." Ava continued.

"..."

"Just when my heart couldn't take it anymore, I saw a light in what felt like an eternity since I last saw such a warm light. A light within the endless abyss of darkness that was all around me."

"Did you find a way out of the Realm of Darkness? On your own?" Lucille asked.

"Not quite. Someone helped me escape, the source of that ray of light, came from a brand new heart, one that had just barely been born. It reached out to me and pulled me out of the darkness, by allowing me to merge my heart with theirs."

Lucille tilted her head, slowly the pieces started to click into place. "Whoa whoa! Wait! Are you saying that was me?! But I have no memory of that at all!" Lucille jumped up and took a few steps back.

"No, I doubt you would remember, when I said that heart was brand new and barely been born. I literally meant it had just been born. In other words, you had just been born when you saved me." Ava giggled.

"..." Lucille's mouth was opened wide in shock, completely shell-shocked by the truth.

"I know that sounds ludicrous, but it does happen. Some hearts are more pure and kind than others, even if you were just a baby, your heart can sometimes act on its own accord, in that sense, your heart reflects your true self. When my heart merged within yours, we essentially became one and same. So I suppose you could say, you are my spiritual reincarnation." Ava explained.

"...I'm so lost." Lucille could only answer.

"I'm sorry, I understand if you don't believe me." Ava sadly smiled.

"Oh no no! I didn't think you were lying about that! I mean you're here after all, it's just...this whole time, I was carrying another person with me the whole time and I didn't even realize it."

"I must also apologize to you. I was in-directly the reason why your body was so weak to begin with when you were a child." Ava then bowed her head.

"Huh? Why do you say that?" Lucille asked.

"When our hearts joined as one new heart, it caused drastic changes to your body as well, you were so small back then, your body did not take to the changes to your heart so well. In order to repair the damage that was done, I steadily made progress to heal your heart while within your heart's sanctuary, this place you where you stand right now. It is also known by another name, the Station of Awakening."

"So that's what happened huh?" Lucille was intrigued, so the reason her body was so weak as a child, was because it was an aftermath result of remaking two hearts into a whole new one. That was kinda deep.

"I felt so awful and guilty about causing so much trouble for you, and how lonely you were for those first years of your life. Then came the incident seven years ago, where you nearly drowned."

Lucille cringed at the memory, that near-death experience she felt was never going to go away. She then thought of something that she'd never have thought was possible until now. "Wait...the person who saved me and helped me back to shore...it was you, wasn't it? You saved me."

"I couldn't let you die, no...I didn't want you to die, so I temporarily took control of your body and used my magic to help you bring you back to the shore, then I switched you back. I'm sorry, I know it was wrong to do that, I acted without thinking." Ava confessed

Lucille shook her head. "How can I hate you for saving me, Ava? Besides, it was my fault for getting myself into a such a situation that could have been avoided. You just wanted to save my life, there's no way I could blame you for that."

"After that, I worked harder than ever to help you, eventually it all paid off, your body became used my presence, and your body was able to get stronger and healthier because of that. I've never been more happy when I saw you leave the house after so many years of being stuck in that room." Ava smiled and continued her story.

"So that explains my miraculous recovery. I have you to thank for why I was able to get better in the first place. You've been watching over me this whole time, haven't you? Thank you, Ava." Lucille thanked.

"I'm the one who should be thanking you. You saved me from the Realm of Darkness, we helped each other to heal and we became much closer in our bond as a result, it's the reason why I can talk to you right now. From now on, I'll do my best to help you however I can. I might be just a spirit now, but I'm still a Foreteller, you'd be surprised what I can still do even like this."

Lucille smiled. "Huh, you know, this is actually kinda cool. I thought I'd be freaked out by the fact I had someone living inside my heart all this time, but you know, I don't feel that way at all. Well Ava, it's nice to finally meet you too." Lucille outstretched her hand.

Ava stood up and gently took hold of Lucille's and shook on it. "There's something else you should know, it's about your friend, Florian."

"Oh my goodness! Flo! Is he okay? What about that whiplash effect that Master Merlin warned us about?" Lucille flailed as she panicked about her small Seraph friend.

"Calm down!" Ava did her best to calm down her frantic other half. "Florian is alright, it seems that the deterioration of the pact has been halted for some reason. This is just a theory, but I think he's been taken back to the Realm of Darkness to prevent the pact from breaking down completely."

"But...Flo's still safe, right?" Lucille asked.

"For the time being, I believe he is." Ava nodded.

Lucille sighed in relief. "That's good. I hope we'll reunite again soon, along with Zen and Oswald, I must have worried them again."

She looked over to where Florian's platform would be, she had noticed that there were some cracks in the stain-glass on his end.

"His Station of Awakening seems to have undergone some damage from the recoil of separation. I'm sure once he's back with you, it will repair itself over time." Ava told her to help ease her worries.

"I'm still worried about him though. Hey, you've been here for all this time, right? Have you and Florian met?" Lucille asked the pink-robed girl.

"Actually, that is what I wanted to talk to you about. You see...you probably don't remember, but you and Florian had met each other a long time ago, before you met him as his Seraph self."

"I have...? When?" Lucille looked puzzled at this. What Ava said wasn't a lie though, in the back of her mind, Lucille could have sworn that she and Florian had indeed met before, there was something oddly familiar about the boy, but there was no way she could forget someone like Florian, could she?

Now that she thought about it more deeply...

"Wait, now that I think about, Florian had been very tight-lipped about who he was before he became a Seraph, I wonder why?" Lucille noted.

"Ah, so you have noticed it after all. It's a little hard to explain this, but I know he won't say it, or rather he can't say it."

"He can't say it?" Lucille looked confused.

"It's complicated for their kind to reveal what they were before, it could change how others view them. I think in Florian's case, he wanted you to remember on your own and the promise that you both made."

"I...made a promise with Flo?" Lucille tried to think as hard as she could of any time with Florian before all this happened. But no memories resurfaced.

"Seraphim can originate from all walks of life, even something as tiny and fragile as a flower can grow a heart of their own. The reasons are different for all of them, but if I had to guess...I would like to think it's because of someone special to them." Ava told her.

"A Flower...?" Lucille felt something click when she heard that word, flower. Florian was taking care of Paopu Flowers in that secret cave of his that remained hidden from the main part of the cave. He said that they were his favorites, Paopu Flowers were Lucille's favorite too...There had to be a connection between them and that flower, it held the secret behind Ava's words.

"I know that he wanted to learn about this on your own, but I think it's time I gave a little push in the right direction." Ava brought out what looked like a small ball of light that swirled around in her hands like a floating sphere.

"What is that?" Lucille approached, curious at the ball.

"It's a memory, yours to be exact, this is from a very long time ago, but it was this small moment in time where you and Florian first connected."

"It is? So this will show me the exact moment when I met Flo before he became a Seraph?"

Ava nodded. "You don't have to if you don't want to. This is your choice to make, once you learn the truth though, you might not see Florian the same way again. Are you sure you want to do this?"

Lucille gave it some thought, thinking about this choice. After some seconds had passed, she made her decision. "Florian is Florian at the end of the day. It doesn't matter what or who he was before. He's still my friend, that applies to Riku too, even if had been a total idiot this whole time."

Ava smiled and nodded. "Very well, please touch the memory then, it will transport you to that moment in time, when there we'll only be ghosts so you can't interact with your memory."

"Makes sense." Lucille shrugged. She brought her hand closer to the ball of light closely, hesitant for a moment, but she then steeled herself placed her hand over it completely.

In a single moment, the station of awakening changed and morphed around them, although it had a very memory-fog like haze, Lucille recognized the place.

"This is my room! Back when I was still sickly and unable to leave the bed." Lucille realized in a moment.

"I still feel bad that I had in-directly caused this to you. I'm so sorry." Ava apologized.

"Hey, we talked about it. It's in the past now." Lucille reassured her. "I'd be lying if I said though that back then, I was more angry than myself than at anyone else, I felt like I was the problem, causing trouble for everyone."

"Lucille..."

That was when they heard the door to the room open slightly, revealing a beautiful brunette woman with the same sun-kissed skin as Sora and Lucille. She wore a doctor's coat over her red vest and light brown shorts that went to her knees. She also wore some sandals on her feet, giving the tropical climate of their world, it wasn't unusual for doctors to look casual despite their important role as Island doctors. She seemed to be carrying a small red pot in one of her hands as she approached.

"Mom?"

The woman went over, going straight through Lucille's ghostly form, Ava did warn that they would just be viewing the memory so it made sense for her to be like a ghost.

Lucille saw her younger self, a four year old who was busy reading away at a book she was reading before her mother came in.

"Mama? Can I go out to play with Sora and Riku?" The small girl asked.

The mother looked sadly. "I'm sorry, my little flower. You're still not well enough." She then checked her temperature by placing a hand over Lucille's forehead and the other on her own. "At least your fever broke, that's a good start."

"But it's not fair! I want to go outside too!" Little Lucille whined.

"I know. As your mother I would want nothing more than that, as a doctor though, I still don't feel confident enough for you go outside without leaving the main island."

Little Lucille sniffled. "I hate my stupid body." She huffed.

"Oh, that reminds me, I have a special gift for you, Lucille." Lucille's mother smiled softly and took out what looked like a tiny seed and placed it in her daughter's hands.

"What's this Mama?" Lucille looked confused.

"This is a flower seed, Lucille. Not just any flower though, it's a Paopu Flower seed."

"Isn't that the really really rare flower that only you can gather when they're in bloom, Mama?" Lucille looked up in awe at her Mother.

"That's right. While gathering them for this year, I found this lone seed that fell out one of them. They're very hard to grow indoors and they don't last very long, but when they are in bloom, they are very beautiful, especially at night when they glow."

"Wow..."

"They say flowers are very good listeners, if you talk to it everyday, it'll help the flower grow quicker."

"So I can make the flower my friend?!" Lucille asked excitedly.

"That's right. Did you also know that Paopu Flowers have a special meaning? It means 'Dearly Beloved' in the language of flowers. Here, I even brought a small flower pot for you to plant it in." Lucille's mother picked up the small red pot with a flower painted on the surface.

With her mother's help, Lucille tucked the small seed into the soil. "I did it, Mama. Will it grow into a pretty flower now?"

"Flowers need a lot of love and care. They need good soil, water and sunlight everyday. So if you want it to grow into a beautiful and happy flower, you need to look after it everyday and give it a lot of love and care."

Lucille nodded happily. "Yeah, I promise to take good care of it! I'll make the flower so very happy, that it'll never ever die. Can I give it a name?"

Lucille's mother softly laughed. "Go ahead, pick any name you like."

"Um...What name should I give you...?" Lucille wondered for a while, looking at the pot. Suddenly an idea came into her mind. "I know! Since you're a flower, I'll call you Florian!"

"Oh my, that's quite an appropiate name indeed."

"Nice to meet you, Florian. I'm Lucille, I'll take good care of you and talk to you everyday about all the books I read and all about Destiny Islands. We'll be friends forever, I promise!"

When the memory faded and the room around them morphed back into the station of awakening, Lucille couldn't help but feel tears prick her eyes then fall from them.

"Lucille? Are you okay?" Ava asked in concern.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. It's just...I can't believe how stupid and inconsiderate I was, to forget something that precious. I remember now...it was so long ago, when I was very little, Mom gave me the seed of a Paopu flower that fell out of one of the flowers when she gathered them that year."

"I was so lonely at the time since Sora and Riku were always playing outside and I was left alone in my room with nothing but books to keep me company. I took care of that flower like I said I would. I talked to it everyday about even the most mundane of things, but I really felt like that the flower was listening to every word I said and in it's own silent way, it comforted me and understood me."

"But eventually, even though I took care of it so well, the flower eventually wilted and died. I was so sad and cried over its death, it felt like losing a friend." Lucille explained.

"..."

"This whole time...how was I so blind to see it? It makes so much sense now. Florian had been growing Paopu flowers near to where the keyhole of our world was, and he knew that those flowers were my favorite. He was trying to hint at me who he was, but I didn't realize it."

"Florian must have grown a heart during his time with you, and because of that, he wanted to stay with you because of the promise." Ava guessed.

Lucille nodded. "Florian came back as a Seraph because of me and the promise I made to him, and I didn't even recognize him!"

"You wouldn't have known, he had been a flower after all, and he came back as Seraph in human form, I'm sure he knew that you wouldn't have figured it out without some help, regardless if you remembered on your own or not."

"I must have hurt Florian so much. Florian...I'm so sorry." Lucille sobbed, guilt-ridden for forgetting Florian like that, even after he had come back as a Seraph to fufil the child-like promise she made to him.

"Florian doesn't hate you for forgetting if that's what you're afraid of. I know this because...we had actually met and spoken to each other." Ava told her.

"So you did see Florian." Lucille looked up to the Foreteller.

"Yeah, I asked him to keep my existence a secret from you until I felt you were ready to know, he told me his secrets too, knowing that I would keep them. We promised that we would not tell you his secret or mine until it was needed. And I felt now was that time."

"You also misunderstood something, you might have thought it was just you who had made Florian that promise, but what you didn't know was...that Florian wished and made that promise to you as well."

"Florian...promised the same thing I did?" Lucille looked wide-eyed.

Ava nodded and gave a warm smile. "He did. Even when he had just been a flower, he had been very happy being with you, as you confided all the things to him that no one else knew. Paopu Flowers have a very short life as you know by now, but you made his short life a cherished one, even when it was time for him to leave, he wanted to keep his promise to you more than anything. And that turned into his wish, and as you know, wishes are what empowers the Seraphim and give their hearts physical form. He truly loves you, in the same way that Sora does."

"Florian..." Lucille sniffled and had a soft smile on her face. Now she really did want to reunite with Florian and her friends more than ever.

"-cille! Lucille, can you hear me?"

"Lady Lucille, please wake up!"

Lucille heard voices echo from above her. They sounded like Chi...and Aster?

"It looks like our time is up. You need to wake up now and find your way back to Florian so the pact can recover. Don't worry, we're a part of each other now, I will do everything I can to help you. Just know that I'm always here if you need me, for words of wisdom or my aid, you just need to ask." Ava smiled.

Lucille smiled. "Thanks Ava, for everything you have done. I'll be sure to come back and visit you so you don't get lonely."

Ava softly laughed. "I'd appreciate the company. Thank you, and good luck."

As light filled the station of awakening, Lucille could feel herself being slipped away into the light.

* * *

The next thing she knew when she awoke, she saw the familiar faces of Chi and Aster looking over her.

"Thank goodness! You're finally awake, Lady Lucille!"

"Geez, don't scare me like that. For a second there, I thought you were beyond all hope of waking up." Aster sighed in relief.

"Chi? Aster? Where...are we?" Lucille asked groggily, still dazed from being asleep for what felt like ages to her, but once the haze of her mind began to clear, she recalled all the events that happened prior.

"Ah! That's right! I dropped my guard and Riku slugged me, that jerk! Doesn't he know to not hit a girl?!" Lucille ranted.

"Technically he knocked you out by exploiting a pressure point." Chi corrected.

"..." Lucille just made a grumbled noise. She then looked at Aster with a confused expression. "Why are you here Aster? Is this Traverse Town?"

Aster sighed. "It's...a little embarrassing. I wasn't alert enough and got caught before I could do anything to defend myself. I hope Luma's alright, she tried to help me but...Riku just threw her aside like she was just a doll." Aster recalled the events.

"Riku did that to Luma?" Lucille gasped. "...Why? Why is he doing this? This is going way too far."

"I really don't know. He actually looked kinda pale before I was knocked out, did something to happen to him from the last time he was in Traverse Town?" Aster asked.

"Riku...? Is he sick?" Lucille looked concerned, despite what Riku had done to her, Sora and her friends, she couldn't betray or abandon him, she'd never do that. He was still one of her dearest and oldest friends, she still believed in him.

"Hmmm...He had been using the powers of Darkness, but we do not know just how long he had been using them exactly. It could be that his body is having a strong negative effect. If he continues to abuse that power like had been doing...he could end up having his heart consumed by the darkness."

"No way! We have to help him!"

"You still want to help this guy even after everything that's happened? Chi's informed me on everything that has happened since you guys left Traverse Town. He's put you and Florian through such torture and risked your safety based on lies that he still believes are true, even if that was never his intention to do you harm." Aster questioned.

"You're right. Riku did many unforgivable things, and there's some things I can't forgive him for. Even so...he's still my best friend, I know that deep down, he only wanted to help myself and Kairi, but the way he's going about it is wrong. And as his friend, it's my duty to knock some sense into that stupid head of his and remind him of who he is." Lucille answered.

Aster smiled. "Heh, I should have known that'd be your answer. You always ever were the optimist. If you could manage to worm your way into Zen's heart, then I have no doubt you'll be able to save Riku from what he's become."

"You'll help?" Lucille smiled back.

"Of course. You're my friend too, you know. It comes with the package." Aster winked.

"I am sure without a doubt that the three of us can find a way out of this dreary place and reunite with our friends." Chi nodded.

"That reminds me, back to my question before. Where is this?" Lucille blinked in realization and looked around their prison, it looked like some underground dungeon for prisoners.

"Well, it's definately not Traverse Town, but for some reason...I feel like I've been here before." Aster noted.

"Really? Wait...then could this place be-?"

"If I had to guess, this must be the place that the old man and the others keep talking about, or what's left of it. Radiant Garden, or...Hallow Bastion as it is known by nowadays." Aster answered.

"It is indeed most likely we were taken here, I feel a terrible presence of darkness all over this world, but I also sense light here as well." Chi told them.

"But if this world is still in our realm, that means it hasn't been completely devoured." Lucille noted.

"Right, which means something is stopping the Heartless from finishing the job."

Oh yeah! Chi, I have great news for you! Master Ava's still alive, she's been with me this whole time!" Lucille picked up the Chirithy and told her.

"Really, Lady Lucille?! Then...I was right. I knew it! I knew your aura being identical to Master Ava's was not a mistake! I knew the darkness couldn't beat Master Ava!" Chi joyfully cheered. "But..why was Master Ava inside your heart this whole time?"

"I'm not so sure about the details myself." Lucille shook her head. "From what Master Ava told me, she said that she had been wandering the Realm of Darkness as a heart, but then I saved her, she had been inside me ever since."

"Incredible, if that is true, then you truly are her successor." Chi was in awe.

"Well, I wouldn't go that far." Lucille blushed lightly.

"Wait, is this what the evil fairy meant when she said Lucille was a Foreteller's chosen?"

"You mean Maleficent? She was here?" Lucille turned to Aster.

"Yeah, she visited us while you were still unconscious. It would explain why they should want Florian out of the way. I doubt she'd be able to get close to you with your pact in place." Aster nodded.

"So that's why. I hope Florian is alright. If that recoil reaction was painful for me, I can't imagine how much it hurts for him." Lucille looked worried for her small Seraph friend.

"Do not fear for Lord Florian, he has a strong heart. If you were able to regain conscious despite the connection being faint, I'm sure he has regained his conscious as well and is hurrying to find us." Chi tried to comfort.

"Fluffball's got a point. You should know Florian better than we do. The kid can be pretty stubborn when he wants to be." Aster smiled.

"I know, Florian is stronger than he thinks he is." Lucille smiled softly and nodded. "I think Master Ava is the reason why I was able to awaken that easily, if she hadn't been here, I'd probably be no different than Kairi..."

"Kairi...?" Aster repeated.

"Hm? Aster? What's up?" Lucille looked confused at Aster's strange reaction to the name.

"Ah...Don't worry it's nothing serious. Had a sudden feeling of nostalgia for some reason."

"Well, in any case, we need to break out of here." Lucille went to the cell door and tried to pull it open, naturally, it wouldn't open, that would be too easy.

"Anyone a master at lock-picking?" Lucille turned to Chi and Aster.

"Hm, I suppose I could try. Shouldn't be too different from my usual work as a mechanic." Aster offered. "We'll need something small though."

"I could help." A new voice brought their attention to the newcomer and jumped back in fright.

"No wait! Please don't be afraid, I won't hurt you! I'm here to help, honest!" Ion tried to calm them so they wouldn't alert the Heartless or Maleficent for that matter.

"Sorry, we didn't mean to react that badly." Lucille apologized.

Ion shook his head. "Don't be. Your reaction is natural, given my appearance. Believe me though, I'm no Heartless, not yet at least."

"Who are you?" Aster questioned curiously.

Ion looked hurt for a moment but shook it off. He shouldn't be surprised, it had been ten years and there was a chance that Aster could have lost his memories in the chaos of the attack, but he wouldn't lie that it still hurt to be forgotten. "My name is Ion, the guardian of this world..."

"So you're the one that Zen talks about!" Aster realized.

Ion smiled sadly. "That's a name I haven't heard in a long time. How is he?"

"Oh Zen's fine. He's still got some people issues and lacks the ability to emote that well, but he's doing just fine, even with that claw." Aster smiled.

"I see. That's good. I'm so glad to hear that." Ion sighed in relief.

"Say, Ion...what happened to you in those last ten years? You look like you've been through a lot." Lucille looked in concern at the current state of Ion's body. She couldn't help but feel a chill thinking that this could happen to any Seraph, even Florian.

"As you can see...acting as the seal over the keyhole of this world has taken it's toll. I was exposed to the darkness by a man called Xehanort, back when he captured both myself and Zen."

"The man who did those awful things to him." Lucille nodded.

"Yes, the result of his acions has twisted and morphed my body into this...monstrosity over these ten years. So far, I have managed to resist the temptations of the darkness that has festered within me. But I won't be able to forever, soon, I won't have the strength to even put up a fight."

"Wait, are you saying that you could turn into a Heartless at any moment?" Aster asked.

"It's a very likely possibility at this point. That's why I need your help, before it's too late."

"Our help?"

"You know that the evil fairy that rules this place has been gathering young maidens with the purest of hearts, right?"

Lucille silently nodded in response.

"The seal that I used to prevent the Heartless from entering the world's core, where its heart resides, is a Seraphic Arte that I used that bound me to the entrance of that keyhole. So in other words, I'm the seal that is stopping Maleficent from getting inside. The Seven Princesses of Heart have the power to remove my seal though, and if that seal is removed, all the darkness that had been pushed back until now will crawl out of the woodwork, swarming this place." Ion then looked away. "Worst case scenario, this world will be completely swallowed by the darkness and plunged into the realm of darkness."

"We can't let that happen! This is my home, well okay, so maybe I don't remember what happened ten years ago and my memory of that time still hasn't come back. But, I can feel it in my heart, this is definitely my home. Not just mine, but the old man's, Zen's and the others. There's got to be something we can do! I'm not a Keyblade wielder or have any special power like Lucille or Zen, but I can still fight and there's no way I'm letting that witch dash everyone's hopes of coming home to this world."

"Aster..." Ion looked in surprise and smiled as he softly noted to himself. "Heh, you have grown up. I know you'll make a fine ruler once Radiant Garden's light returns to this world, I wish I could be around to see it happen."

"Huh? Did you say something?" Aster looked puzzled.

"Nothing." Ion shook his head and raised his hand to cast a seraphic arte over the lock, the latch fell off with ease, allowing the cell door to open by itself.

"Whoa! That's so cool!" Lucille beamed.

"It's nothing grand." Ion spoke with light blush of embarrassment at the praise. "It's just a simple arte."

"Heh, still faster than how long it would have taken us." Aster smiled, his face then grew serious as he looked up to the ceiling. "So...the castle is above us right?"

"Yes, these are the dungeons that Xehanort used for his 'experiments'." Ion spat the word 'experiment'. "If we take that lift over there, it should send us straight to the entrance of the castle." Ion then pointed to what looked like a very tired looking lift.

"...Are you sure it's safe?" Lucille was the first to question given the look of the lift.

"Well...it should hold. I think..." Ion sweat-dropped.

"You think?!"

"N-No worries. I can always use my float spell in case we need it." Ion laughed nervously.

"...That does not fill us with confidence." Aster sighed.

"We should hurry, Lady Lucille. We do not know how much time we have left if Maleficent plans to use the Seven Princesses of Heart for her nefarious plan." Chi told them.

"Yeah, you're right." Lucille nodded.

"Oh, that reminds me, Lucille are you able to still fight even without Florian?" Aster asked.

"Uh, let me see." Lucille tried to summon the Lux Arma into her hands but it didn't appear. "What?"

"Your Seraphic weapon is probably in the custody of Florian if you had been using your pact with him to make it disappear and appear at will." Ion answered.

"Aw man, I knew I shouldn't have taken that for granted." Lucille face-palmed at her stupidity.

"Don't worry, leave the fighting to us, I'm sure Florian will find us." Aster reassured.

"I'm sorry, I'm so useless." Lucille apologized.

Ion shook his head. "You're far from that. After all, there's a power far stronger than any keyblade or seraphic weapon that you already possess."

"...I do?" Lucille asked.

Ion approached her and gently touched a finger to where her heart was. "The heart has a power that many underestimate, if you give it form, it will grant you the strength to fight in your darkest hour."

"Thanks Ion. I'll remember that." Lucille nodded and smiled at the Seraph. "Heh, I can see why Zen thinks so fondly of you."

"Hey, Ion. I know this is going to sound strange, but have we met before? I can't help but feel like I should know you." Aster asked, unable to contain his curiosity to ask, since the feeling he felt from Ion was not that different from how he felt with Zen, and they were best friends.

"..." Ion didn't answer and walked ahead.

"I'll take that as a yes. I feel bad for not remembering anything at all, even though I'm back in my homeworld, or what's left of it at least." Aster sighed.

"I'm sure something will trigger if we look around the castle. Have a little faith, besides, Florian, Zen and Oswald are coming to find us, I know it."

Aster smiled at the brunette girl. "Yeah, you're right. You're pretty brave, you know that."

"Heh, not really. To be honest, I'm actually kinda scared right now, I'm not sure what we will find." Lucille admitted. "But I believe in my friends, it'll work out."

With that, the small group, guided by Ion's knowledge of the area left the old dungeons to find a way to the castle above them.

* * *

Meanwhile back in the Sacred Grove, Florian had finally regained enough strength to open his eyes, to see that he was resting underneath the world tree itself, the soft warm blue glow radiating from the World Tree filled him with energy that he had lost previously.

Standing up, Florian turned to the World Tree and gently placed a hand on it, he could feel the warmth coming from its bark. "You helped me to recover, didn't you? Thank you Great World Tree." Florian thanked.

"Hey, sleeping beauty, finally came around huh?" Kuroshi gave a carefree wave to his former pupil, learning on one of the many trees of this grove.

"Lord Kuroshi! Why am I back in the Sacred Grove? I'm grateful that the World Tree helped me to recover, but I can't stay here." Florian ran over to his former teacher, who had also been the guardian of Destiny Islands before Florian took over.

"Don't worry I know. You want to get back to the little miss, right?" Kuroshi nodded.

"Yes, I'm glad you understand, Lord Kuroshi. I'd be screwed if it Lord Yggdrasil was here." Florian bowed in respect.

"Actually, Lord Yggdrasil decided to not stop you."

Florian blinked in disbelief. "We ARE talking about our leader right?" Florian looked doubtful.

"Oh trust me, he made a big fuss about it, but believe it or not, the World Tree vouched for you and as we all know, Lord Yggdrasil and that Tree have a bond that even I can't explain. I figured this would be a good test to prove if humans truly are as beyond all hope as he thinks they are. I think you and the little miss has a good chance of proving him wrong, I've seen enough to know that."

"The World Tree did?" Florian looked back at the giant and majestic tree that had roots stretched across in countless worlds.

"It did. It told me that now was the time to put old grudges aside and allow the new generation to chose their own paths." Yggdrasil arrived, his arms crossed. "Personally, I think it is a terrible idea, but the World Tree had never guided us wrong before. So I will place my trust in it's wisdom."

"Rare to see you being so compliant." Kuroshi smirked.

"Shut up." Yggdrasil glared, but Kuroshi still had that smirk on his face. "Do not misunderstand. My stance on on mortals and especially humans remains the same. Besides, you would just argue until I relented, am I wrong?"

Florian nodded with a defiant look. "I made a promise to Lucille. There's no way I'm going to break it, not even for you, Lord Yggdrasil."

"...Hmph, this is almost like looking at my own past reflection." Yggdrasil muttered quietly to himself.

"...?" Florian tilted his head in confusion.

"Now then, since the keyhole to Radiant Garden, or Hallow Bastion as it has been renamed nowadays, is sealed by Ion's seraphic arte, you will not be able to use it to get into that world. There is a backdoor way to getting to that world though." Yggdrasil told him, getting the point of the matter.

"Lord Ion's arte is what's stopping the darkness from getting inside the world's core right?" Florian asked.

"Correct." Yggdrasil nodded.

"But since that evil fairy Maleficent has got all Seven Princesses of Heart in her hands, it won't be long before even his seraphic arte falls. So we gotta get there fast. Like Lord Yggdrasil said, there's a backdoor we can use to get into Hallow Bastion. It'll require us visiting the realm of light though."

"But..."

"But without your pact partner, you do not have the protection needed to wander it. Good to know that even you are aware of your limitations." Lord Yggdrasil added.

"Lord Yggdrasil, don't antagonize the kid." Kuroshi sighed.

Yggdrasil shot a look before sighing. "So, to counter that, I will let you borrow this." He took out what looked like a tiny pendent with a diamond shaped glass with a tiny light inside of it."

"What is this? A Lux fragment?" Florian questioned curiously.

"We call it a 'Lux charm', by using a little bit of lux, we can create charms that will let us wander the Realm of Light even without a pact partner." Kuroshi told his former student.

Florian's eyes widened in shock. "We have been able to do this the whole time?!"

"Its power is limited though, for us to maintain our presence in the realm of light without being exposed to the darkness, it requires a large amount of lux from that lux charm, and lux is incredibly rare now given the current state of the worlds, so cannot just use them on a idle whim. At most, you will have only a few hours before the power of that charm fades." Yggdrasil warned.

"So I need to find Lucille before the charm's power runs out."

"Precisely, but thankfully, we're a resourceful bunch, getting to Hallow Bastion will take only just a few minutes using the back door method." Kuroshi winked.

"What is this 'back door method'?" Florian curiously questioned.

"We can create corridors of light within the realm of light in the same sense as those who use darkness can use corridors of darkness to get around without a ship vessel to traverse the interspace." Yggdrasil answered.

"But we can't make corridors of light in this realm?" Florian pointed out.

"Pretty much, this is the realm of darkness for a reason, kid." Kuroshi nodded.

"Our only option is to go into the realm of light, that charm should be able to provide enough protection for you until you reunite with that girl. There's also something else. It's about your powers as a Seraph."

"My powers?" Florian tilted his head. "But they're no different from any of the other Seraphim."

"Actually, that's not entirely true." Kuroshi scratched his head sheepishly.

"...Huh?"

"Allow me to explain," Yggdrasil started. "It is not unusual for our kind to grow hearts from strange origins. Some were even lifeless objects before they were reawakened, hearts are mysterious like that, they can grow and flourish even in the most smallest of things."

"You in particular have a special power that no other Seraph has, and that is due to what you originally were in the past."

"You mean, when I was still just a Paopu Flower? But there's others like me who were reawakened like that too." Florian still couldn't understand where they were going with their talk.

"Kid, the keyword here is 'Paopu Flower', you know that the flower is incredibly important to the islanders of Destiny Islands, right?" Kuroshi hinted.

"I know that the Paopu Flower is known for curing all kinds of illnesses, fevers and other life-threatening things. Also that it can grant good health to anyone who drinks the nectar from it." Florian recalled all the things he remembered hearing from the other Islanders from his time as the guardian of those islands. It was actually kind of interesting to learn this given that his past life as a Paopu flower himself.

"Did you know that the Paopu Flower have a natural ability to repel and purify darkness?" Yggdrasil added.

"..."

"..."

"That part I DIDN'T know." Florian spoke after a period of silence, looking astonished to learn this.

"It's true, those rare little flowers from those islands have natural properties that can be used to clean out any impurities, including anything or anyone that had been corrupted by darkness."

"So those flowers could save Lord Ion! Oh...but Destiny Islands had been plunged into darkness by the Heartless..." Florian clicked but his hopes were dampened when he recalled the fate of the world he had failed to protect.

"No, we still have a chance. One of the perks about being a Seraph is that we inherit the things from our past life, not just our memories, but any abilities we might have back then too. To some of us though, it could also be considered a curse." Kuroshi added.

It took a few moments but it soon dawned on Florian what they were implying. "Are you saying...that I'm able to purify someone corrupted by darkness through a Seraphic arte because of my connection to that flower?"

"Yup, since you were a Paopu Flower yourself before your reawakening, you carried over all the things that the flower itself was capable of doing. That's why most of our kind have unique seraphic artes only known to us alone." Kuroshi answered.

"But how do I trigger that power to work?" Florian shook his head.

"I am familiar with how such artes can be triggered." Yggdrasil told the small Seraph.

"You do?" Florian looked hopeful.

"I also possess similar purification artes but they are not the same vein as yours, and I cannot leave the World Tree's side." Yggdrasil looked away with a pained look. "It requires a pact though, as it is union arte by nature, which is why I am willing to let you continue your pact with that human girl. I am going to place my faith in not only the World Tree's wisdom on this, but also on your friend."

"But you don't trust mortals anymore, you even said yourself that your stance hasn't changed on it. But then why? Why would you even help me?" Florian asked earnestly.

"...When I heard Ion had become exposed to darkness and was currently using himself as the seal to prevent the Heartless from completely devouring Radiant Garden's heart, I had lamented at my failures as a leader."

"If there is even the smallest of chances that he could be saved from the same fate as our past kin had suffered in the Keyblade War, I would be willing to set aside my own grudges to realize that. Even if it meant having to place my trust in a mortal of all people."

"So because of the kid's natural inherited trait to purify corruption, you're willing to swallow your pride eh?" Kuroshi summarized.

"In a lack for better words, yes. Ion is still fighting after all these years, he followed what his heart believed was right, despite my warnings. I want to believe that his belief in those mortals was worth the ten years he had endured fighting an endless struggle for their sake, but even I can tell he will not last any longer without some miracle to save him. If anyone can pull off that miracle, it would be you and your friend, Florian. Please don't disappoint me." Yggdrasil sighed.

"Lord Yggdrasil...Thank you so much! We'll definitely save Ion!" Florian felt overjoyed that his leader was finally starting to place his faith in mortals, even if it was just a small amount.

"That is left to be seen, now, let me show you how to invoke those artes so when the time and you have reunited with your mortal friend, you will know what to do." Yggdrasil told him as he started to teach Florian a special method of union artes that had been long lost since the Era of Fairytales. It had been a very long time since Yggdrasil had ever imparted this knowledge to anyone else.

It made him think back to the time when he was just a young Seraph, naive to the realm of light and its bizarre wonders. When he had made his pact with a bright-eyed yet very gullible boy whose smile was as bright as the sun itself.

After teaching Florian this important lesson, Florian had left with Lord Kuroshi to re-enter the realm of light, it was mostly so Kuroshi could watch over Florian and aid him until he reunited with that mortal girl that he was so fond of, before leaving though, Florian thanked his leader again for his trust and faith in him and Lucille.

Yggdrasil sighed and leaned back against the World Tree. "I hope you are right about this, old friend. I am endangering another of my own kin by doing this."

He heard the gentle response of the tree's echo in his head and softly smiled. "Heh, ever the optimist aren't you? Florian, good luck."

* * *

Back at Hallow Bastion, on one of the many floating rocks that was surrounding by a circle of waterfalls that flowed upwards rather than down, Zen and Oswald arrived, along with Sora, Donald and Goofy who they had teamed up with.

"Never thought I'd find myself back here again so soon." Zen felt sorrowful, looking at what used to be his home world.

"Geez, this place has really fallen apart. There used to be a really nice garden here too." Oswald sighed sadly.

"Gawsh, look at that!" Goofy pointed up towards the remains of what used to be Radiant Garden's royal castle, now gnarled and twisted almost beyond recognition.

"I know this place."

"Wait, you do?!" Oswald blinked.

"I'm pretty sure I don't remember seeing you there when I was living here." Zen crossed his arms with a skeptic look.

"That wasn't what I meant!" Sora huffed.

"Hmm, that's strange." Goofy looked confused as well.

"I wonder why...I know I never left my island. I feel this warmth inside, right here." Sora tried to explain, placing a hand over where his heart was.

"Hmmm...I got nothing." Oswald shook his head.

"Aw, you're just hungry." Donald waved off.

"Hey, I'm serious!" Sora retorted.

 _"Either way, be careful, this place is covered in Heartless, if you drop your guard, they'll catch you."_ Zen heard a unfamiliar voice echo in his head.

"What the? Wait, did you hear that just now?"

"Huh?" Sora looked confused.

"I swear that I just heard a voice, it was definitely a voice I never heard before, yet it feels familiar for some reason."

"...Zen, are you feeling okay?" Oswald asked with a raised eyebrow. "We didn't hear anything. Now that I think about it, didn't you say that you thought I said something back on the Ortensia?"

"What? But..."

 _"They can't hear me, you know. You're the only one who can hear my voice, and that's because I'm a part of your heart."_

 _'Wait, who are you? And what do you mean 'part' of my heart?'_ Zen snapped in his mind at the strange voice in his head.

 _"My name is Gula, I'm one of the Five Foretellers that I believe Ava's Chirithy mentioned to you."_

 _'You're one of the foretellers? Aren't you meant to be dead? And why are you inside me?!'_

 _"We don't have time to talk about the details, but to be blunt, you are my successor and I owe you a debt for saving me all those years from the Realm of Darkness. I know, it's complicated, but I'll have to explain this another time. Right now, shouldn't Ava and your friend be more important than this?"_

 _'Ava? Who is that? And what does she have to do with Lucille?'_ Zen asked.

 _"Ava...is an important friend to me, and your friend, Lucille, is her successor as well and has become a part of her heart, just as I am a part of you. You can trust Ava to protect Lucille, she's the kind of person that would always do the right thing, even if means endangering herself in the process."_

 _'Fine, but I want a full explanation when this is over.'_ Zen answered in his head.

 _"Thanks for understanding. I promise to keep my word on that. Anyway, I can help you out, while I can't provide much aid to you at this point in time, I can help locate Lucille. Ava's with her after all so it shouldn't be hard to sense her out."_

"Zen? Zen! You were zoned out there, are you sure you're okay?" Oswald's voice snapped Zen back into reality.

"Ah right! Sorry, let's go." Zen nodded. He looked at the castle before him. _'Lucille, Aster, Ion...we're coming. You better not die on us before we get there, just...hang in there just a little longer.'_

They jumped across the platforms towards their destination, the castle of Hallow Bastion.

* * *

And that's the first part of the Hallow Bastion arc done! I hope you enjoyed this introductory chapter into it. =3

I would like to thank everyone again for all your support, be it in the form of reviews, alerts or favoriting the story. I hope to continue expanding this story for a long time yet, even if I do tend to update at a snail's pace. XD

 **~:Review Corner time:~**

 **Ctran03931:** Thank you very much for your review! Glad you seem to like Yggdrasil, he's not a bad person really, just very jaded. XD Anyway, it does seem that way that Xehanort seems to know about the Foretellers, I imagined given that he's a seeker of darkness he would have a great interest in them, especially those book of prophecies. ;p

I hope that you continue to enjoy the story as it unfolds!

 **Guest 1:** Thank you for your review! It does seem like Xehanort has some kind of bigger plan in mind doesn't he? I hope you continue to enjoy the story and find the answer along the way. =D

 **Guest 2:** Thank you for your review! I'm looking forward to writing out the Hallow Bastion arc myself, funny enough, Hallow Bastion was one of the first chapters that had made a rough blueprint of before the actual first chapter of the story XD

I hope that you are enjoying it though. :3

 **Gry21:** Thank you for your review! Don't worry, when we get to Chain of Memories, I plan to do something different for Lucille and the gang. I might let them take part in the Riku's path in Chain of Memories, although I do have a little plot bunny that I might decide to use, since I want to give Riku some development to make him understand the Seraphim and realize his mistake about them. =3

Either way, I haven't decided on what exactly I plan to do, but I definitely don't plan them to go through the same thing that Sora did.

Also even though the other three foretellers won't probably show up until KH II or Chain of Memories saga at the earliest if I choose to add them at that point, I've already got a few ideas for Aced's successor. I feel the same as you do about Aced. I do feel kinda bad for Aced, I feel that he meant well in his intentions and does have a good heart, but he had very flawed ideas of how to combat the darkness. So want to do him some justice when he does make his debut. =3

 **Chirithy564:** Thank you for your review! Aw, it's okay Chirithy. I'm glad you really like Ion and enjoyed his chapter. I felt a little bad for leaving him out for a huge chunk of this fan fic even though I mentioned him a lot during the Traverse Town chapters. XD Let's hope that Ion makes it through. =D

I hope that you continue to enjoy the story as it continues and grows. =3

 **Guest 3:** Thank you for your review! Anyway, it's hard to say that right now without giving anything away, but I think the Heartless Ansem would have more simple goals rather Xehanort's more grand ideals, but there's always a possibility. =3

 **Guest 4:** Thank you for your review! I'm so glad that you're enjoying the story that much. XD I apologize for not updating fast enough, it's finding the right mindset and time to do it that makes it take so long. But I hope that you continue to enjoy the story. =D

 **~:End of Review Corner:~**

Well, until next chapter, happy reading and see you all in the next chapter! I hope that you continue to enjoy Radiant Dawn!

Moogle Empress out!

Moogle: Kupo!


	18. Episode 17: The Keyblade's Chosen

Hello everyone, Moogle Empress here with the next chapter. Before we dive in, I have an important announcement to make. =D

This chapter was proof-read and cleaned by the lovely member Xxser3ndipityxX. She had kindly offered to help me make sure this chapter, and any future chapters afterwards are corrected from any mistakes, spelling or grammar-wise. She's even helping out with the past chapters, so, if you ever go back to previous chapters, you might see her handiwork there next time. =D

Thank you so much Xxser3ndipityxX! I'll do my best to not give you too many problems. ^-^

Alright, with that done and dusted, time to commence the next chapter, so let's go!

* * *

 **Episode 17: The Keyblade's Chosen**

* * *

After jumping from platform to platform, they soon reached what looked like an old, ruined gateway leading up to the castle. Once they arrived, they saw a familiar face and a giant beast staring each other down.

"No vessel, no help from the Heartless...So tell me, how'd you get here?" Riku demanded to know from the 'intruder' how he had found his way inside this world.

"I simply believed. Nothing more to it. When our world fell into darkness, Belle was taken from me. I vowed I would find her again no matter what the cost. I believed I would find her, so here I am. She must be here, " Beast gave his gruff response. He then roared ferociously, "I will have her back!"

"Take her if you can." Riku taunted.

With another loud roar, Beast lunged towards him, Riku backflipped with ease from him and, using a combination of the power of darkness and his bat-like blade, he was able to make Beast fall to the ground.

Without thinking, Sora stepped in before Riku could do the final blow. "Stop!"

"Geez! He's just as reckless as his sister," Zen sighed but then came out of hiding along with everyone else.

"So, you've finally made it. About time. I've been waiting for you." Riku stared straight at Sora. "We've always been rivals, haven't we? You've always pushed me, just as I've always pushed you."

"You're also supposed to be friends!" Oswald argued. "Why are you siding with Maleficent of all people?"

"That is none of your concern, rabbit. Why should you care, anyway? We're strangers."

"But we're Lucille's friends, and, even after all this, she still thinks of you as her friend. How can you do this to her? Have you forgotten that Sora's her brother? Do you think she, or your other friend, for that matter, would be happy with what you're doing?" Oswald reasoned.

"Riku..."

"That doesn't matter to you or anyone else."

"Doesn't matter? Since when doesn't family matter?!" Zen loudly retorted.

"It all ends here. There can't be two Keyblade Masters."

"What are you talking about?" Sora asked with confusion in his voice.

"Actually Riku...That's not tru-" Oswald was about to counter that, but Riku ignored him.

"Let the Keyblade choose...it's true master." Riku outstretched his arm as if he summoned something into his hand.

Sora's Keyblade appeared out of nowhere without Sora summoning it himself. He felt the Keyblade being pulled for some reason. As Sora tried to keep hold of, it eventually vanished and then reappeared in Riku's hands.

"WHAT?! Oh, you've got to kidding me!" Zen was horrified.

"Wait...don't tell me...Riku was...But that would mean..." Oswald looked surprised at this.

"Maleficent was right. You don't have what it takes to save Kairi or your sister. It's up to me. Only the Keyblade Master can open the secret door...and change the world."

"That sounds like a pack of lies Maleficent fed you to keep you on her leash like a good little lapdog," Zen spat.

"But that's impossible. How did this happen? I'm the one who fought my way here with the Keyblade!" Sora looked in disbelief at his hand and back at Riku a few times.

"You were just the delivery boy," Riku mocked.

"Riku...who was the one who initiated the rite of inheritance with you?" Oswald narrowed his eyes and demanded to know, but once again he was ignored. "STOP IGNORING ME!" The rabbit shouted in annoyance.

"Sorry, your part is over now. Here, go play hero with this," Riku simply answered back before throwing a wooden sword at Sora's feet. Sora fell to his knees, shaken by this cold truth, staring at the ground.

"That's so cruel. What kind of friend are you?!" Zen felt like he was seeing himself again from ten years ago, back when he was bullied and picked on for being an outsider to this world. Back when he was much more timid and quiet. He didn't hesitate to defend Sora, glaring at Riku.

"I don't think you got the message, but we stopped being friends a while ago," Riku coldly replied back.

"...You're disgusting. You're lower than I thought you were," Zen spat harshly.

"You're one to talk, You carry that Heartless claw and claim you're still human? You're no different from the Heartless."

"...I might have agreed with you a long time ago; I sometimes still think that way. I'm lucky, though. I have made friends that I know will always be there to pull me back if I ever start to lose sight of what's important to me. I'm more human than you are right now, even I can tell that," Zen countered.

"You aren't needed anymore. I'm all Kairi and Lucille need to keep them safe." With that, Riku turned around and walked away.

Zen was about to chase after him, but Oswald stopped him. "Zen, not right now. Sora needs us."

Zen glanced back at Sora and then back at Oswald. "Yeah...sorry. Who the heck does he think he is, parading himself like some chosen savior, huh?!"

"Riku didn't earn that Keyblade-he inherited it. That's not the mark of a true master; that's just passing the power to use a Keyblade on to another person. Master Yen Sid taught me how to tell the difference. Question is, who was it that gave Riku the right to wield one?" Oswald pondered thoughtfully. Zen just looked puzzled.

 _"He's right. Some Keyblade wielders can be given the right to wield Keyblades without having to prove their worth. The wielder who initiates the rite can choose to pass the right to wield one to another or not. The other way is through earning their right to wield a Keyblade by the strength of their heart and proving their worth on their own,"_ Gula echoed in Zen's head.

'So, you're saying Riku was just given a Keyblade. He didn't earn it.'

 _"Yes, Riku relies more on raw power and the power of darkness rather than the strength of his heart. Under normal circumstances, he should not have been worthy of wielding any Keyblade with that current mindset he has. At least Aced, despite all his flawed logic and reckless thinking, had his heart in the right place, and it was strong in its own right, but even then that didn't save him."_

'Who's Aced?'

 _"Um...I'll explain that another time. We're a bit pressed for time right now, don't you think?"_ Gula's response echoed in Zen's head, to which Zen rolled his eyes and quietly acknowledged the Foreteller's words, or so this 'Gula' claims that he is one of the five foretellers. For all Zen knows, this could be an early sign that he's slowly losing his mind.

It was around then that he saw the duck take a few steps forward. "Goofy. Let's go. We have to remember our mission."

"Oh! Well, I know the king told us to follow the key and all...But..." Goofy seemed very reluctant to actually follow after Riku, looking back at Sora.

"Are you serious? You're not going to leave Sora behind, are you? You guys have been through so much together! Doesn't that mean anything to you?" Zen couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Both of them knew they couldn't say anything to respond to that, as it was true. They really didn't want to leave Sora's side, but...they had to follow the King's orders.

"What? Mickey would never ask ya to abandon a friend! Even you two know that! You don't have to follow Riku just because he has the Keyblade now. How do you know Mickey meant the Keyblade to begin with? He could have meant another key entirely!" Oswald tried to reason, but it was no use.

With heavy hearts, they started to walk away. "Sora, sorry..." And with that, they disappeared from sight.

"I can't believe they actually left!" Zen cried out.

"Gosh, those two nimrods are hopeless. Mickey might have told them to stick with the key, but he didn't imply it had to be the Keyblade." Oswald pinched two of his fingers between his nose and sighed.

Zen bended down to Sora's level. "Hey, I know this is probably the worst time to say this, but we need to go after them."

"Zen? Oswald? You guys are still here?" Sora asked in a broken voice.

"Sora..."

They heard Beast's footsteps as he passed by them before he fell down on to one knee, still injured from that fight he had with Riku.

However, it seemed to snap Sora out of what state of depression he had been in, as he stood up and ran up to Beast's side. "Hey, don't move. You're hurt."

"Why...Why did you...you come here?"

Sora was unsure how to answer that, but Beast helped out by explaining his reason. "I came to fight for Belle. And though I am on my own, I will fight. I won't leave without her. That's why I'm here." Beast continued to head towards the castle, even though his wounds were still fresh.

"Beast's right, Sora. Remember why you came here in the first place," Oswald nodded.

Sora looked at the wooden sword and picked it up into his hand. "Hold up!" Sora called out to stop Beast in his tracks. "Me too. I'm not gonna give up now. I came here to find two people very important to me."

"That's the spirit, kid," Oswald nodded proudly.

"You're not alone, Sora. We're still here. So what if you don't have a Keyblade anymore? You don't need that weapon. You have us. Maybe we haven't known each other for long, but I know enough to know who I'd rather fight alongside with-even if the odds are stacked against us. Besides, Lucille, Florian and Aster would murder both me and Oswald if we pulled a stunt like that, and I happen to like living, so I'd rather not die just yet."

"Guess you're stuck with us for the time being, kiddo," Oswald grinned.

"Thanks Zen, Oswald. Sis really found some great friends in you guys." Sora smiled.

"More like Zen here found a good friend within a certain brunette girl and a certain childhood friend of his," Oswald snickered.

"You say something, rabbit?" Zen cracked his knuckles while glaring daggers at the rabbit.

"Hmph, very well. If you wish to join me, go ahead, but remember, I am fighting for Belle. Just as you are fighting for the people that are important to you. I am not obliged to stay with you if our paths were to split in this dark place," Beast warned.

"Very well, that's a fair trade off. With the four of us, I'm sure we can take on this place," Oswald agreed.

"Lucille...Kairi...we're coming." Sora gripped the wooden sword tighter in his hand as he renewed his determination. Even without the Keyblade, he would fight for his sister and the girl that he cares deeply for.

"Then what are we waiting for? Time to go raid a castle." Zen punched one fist in his other one.

With that, they headed onwards to the castle, where Kairi, Lucille and the other captives that Maleficent had taken hostage were waiting within.

* * *

"Whoa!" Florian was thrown out rather ungracefully out of a bright doorway of light that appeared out of the blue and landed him on the ground rather harshly. "Ow...Lord Kuroshi wasn't kidding when he said the Corridors of Light were hard to control." He eased his poor head. He then stood up and brushed off his robe.

He looked around to see he had reached his intended destination. One of the telling signs he was in the right place was that his bond to Lucille was strengthening again.

"So this is what was once Radiant Garden...how tragic." Florian looked around sadly.

"Right! Time to find Lucille." He breathed in and pumped his fists lightly in determination. Before he could take the first step, something came out from behind and covered his mouth to stop him from screaming out as he was pulled into one of the dark corners of the foyer.

"Hmmph!" He snapped his head up to see the culprit and blinked in surprise.

"Hey flower boy, about time you showed up," Moira smirked. She then released her hold on him.

"Miss Moira?" Florian questioned, even though he already knew the answer.

"Technically, it's the Magnificent Moira Delune, but I'll let it pass this time." Moira rolled her eyes.

"What brings you here? I thought you weren't allowed to get involved." Florian asked another question not as silly or obvious as the first one.

"Usually that's the case, but Master Matoya told me that something seriously bad could happen if we don't act, so she allowed me permission to intervene for now," Moira explained.

"Master Matoya saw this coming?"

"Yeah, she said that this world needs to be spared from being plunged into darkness, as this world will become a very important place in the far future."

"She saw that far?!" Florian was awed by this.

"I told ya, Master Matoya is the greatest seer of all time, so there's nothing that escapes her mind's eye. Totally sucks that she can't use that power all the time because of our stingy rules of not messing with time's flow," Moira proudly boasted.

"So that means this world will have some huge impact in the future?"

"Now that, my little friend, is a secret~" Moira winked. "All I will say is that someone's screwing around with the flow of time again and trying to change the fate of this world for all the wrong reasons. As an Observer, I've got to make sure I put that loser in his place and make sure this world doesn't end up falling into the Realm of Darkness."

"You called me 'Flower boy'. When did you know that-" Florian was about to ask, but Moira had beaten him to it.

"That you were a flower before being reborn as a Seraph? Strange thing about precognition powers, we can sometimes peer a glimpse into a person's heart and see their true form-or at least in the Seraphim's case, the form they took before becoming one of them," Moira explained.

"So you knew all along," Florian sighed.

"Uh huh, I think you're probably the first one to have come from a paopu flower of all things, though. They don't live for very long, after all. It's pretty impressive when you think about it." Moira nodded.

"Where exactly are we in this world? I could have sworn Lord Kuroshi said it would take me to the entrance."

"Nope, far from it. We're on the highest floor of the castle."

"The highest floor?! We're that high up?" Florian cried out.

"Well, let's just say if you were to jump from here, you'd be a pancake when you reached the ground," Moira teased playfully.

"That's not funny, Miss Moira." Florian pouted, he then looked in the direction of where he felt a strong aura of darkness growing from somewhere nearby.

"There's a strong gathering of darkness here. It's almost suffocating. Could it be coming from beyond the keyhole that Lord Ion sealed away?" Florian shivered, as the large number of Heartless he could feel were biding their time was staggering even for him.

"Could be, who knows how long the Heartless from the Realm of Darkness had been waiting to get inside this world's core. Eh?" Moira glanced to the side to notice that there were at least six girls locked onto the pillars by thorns that grew upwards to their waists.

"So, these are the Princesses of Heart." Moira glanced at them from a distance. To think such power could hide within such innocent girls.

"We have to help them!" Florian ran over to one of them and tried to pull the thorns off with his hands, but he accidently pricked himself instead. "Owch!"

"I wouldn't do that, kid. Those thorns look hard to burn or tear off. This must be Maleficent's work." Moira shook her head at the small Seraph.

Moira then took hold of Florian's sleeve and pulled him quickly to the wall so both of them could hide from sight in the shadows of the large room they were in. "Shhh! Someone's coming."

They saw Maleficent, the evil fairy witch, pass them by, unaware of their presence, thankfully. For a moment, Moira had worried she would have spotted them from their hiding spot. She had brought over an unconscious girl and placed her on the ground, trapping her in a dark capsule that floated in midair.

Florian recognized the girl on sight. "Kairi!" Florian kept his voice low enough to not attract attention, but the tone of shock and alert was there.

"Shhh!" Moira shushed him in case Maleficent might have overheard them. Maleficent then walked up the first altar of stairs before turning around with a gleefully dark smile on her face. "O purest of hearts! Reveal to me the Keyhole!"

Upon her command, six pink beams of lights originating from the hearts of the six princesses fired towards the ceiling, forming together to create one beam of light that directed itself towards the seal that Florian had placed on it.

"Damn it, she's trying to undo the seal sooner than I thought," Moira cursed.

"But...there's only six. What happened to the seventh princess?" Florian wondered.

"Duh, haven't you figured it out yet? Who else is here besides us and that witch?" Moira glanced her eyes towards the unmoving form of Kairi.

Florian followed her gaze. The pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place when he figured out what Moira was implying. "...No way...but...how is that possible?" Florian whispered.

"Crashing into the scene isn't usually my style, and it goes against so many observer rules. I can't barge in when I'm not meant to get in the way. I can only watch the events unfold. We'll have to wait till either Sora or Lucille gets here. Ugh, I hate being so useless!" Moira gritted her teeth, annoyed that she couldn't do anything because of the rules that her role demanded that she follow to the letter.

"Those rules you Observers have really suck. Here I thought Lord Yggdrasil's rules were suffocating," Florian commented honestly.

"Yeah, I know. It really does suck." Moira nodded in agreement. All they could do was hide from sight for now until they could strike when their friends arrived. They just hoped they would get here soon.

* * *

Meanwhile inside the castle, Lucille, Aster, Chi and their guide Ion continued their travels through the seemingly endless path outside of the castle, trying to get inside of it. "Geez, nothing but paths and more paths! What kind of castle is this?"

"Are all castles this complex, Lord Ion?" Chi was travelling on Lucille's head as she noted the odd layout of the castle.

"I never really thought about it until now, but perhaps it wasn't just this world's exterior that was warped. Perhaps the castle itself was twisted by the darkness, as well. Either way, I certainly don't remember the castle looking like this," Ion wondered

"...!" Just then, she felt a familiar presence in her heart. It felt soothing and warm, as if something was healing inside her.

"Lady Lucille? Is something wrong?"

"I know this feeling. Florian! Florian's here!"

"That's wonderful! I knew that Lord Florian would find us," Chi cheered.

"But the keyhole to this world is sealed off, which means he couldn't have used the keyhole to enter," Aster remembered.

"Hmm... Oh!" Ion seemed just as confused, but he then remembered something from a long time ago, "There is another way for our kind to move around worlds. While slipping through keyholes that have yet to be locked away by Keyblades is the more safe route, there's a backdoor we can use, but it's risky."

"A back door?" Lucille repeated.

"While in the Realm of Light, we can create corridors of light. They allow us to gain access to any world we wish, regardless if the keyhole has been closed or not. However, it is dangerous for us to stay in the Realm of Light without a host or vessel to protect us, so only the more experienced Seraphim are allowed to use them, as their resistance to darkness is far more developed," Ion explained.

"I see. So Lord Florian used one of these 'corridors' to enter this world without your seal being undone," Chi summarized.

"Yes, and since the pact between you two is still maintained, although frayed, that sensation you felt just now means that your bond is being mended since you two are no longer separated in two different worlds."

"Oh, does that mean Lady Lucille can use her weapon again?" Chi perked her ears.

"Hm, if you left your seraphic weapon with him, then chances are, until you two properly meet, you still won't be able to use it," Ion answered.

"So we just need to find Florian. I was going to do that anyway. Is that okay with you, Ion? I know we're-"

Ion shook his head. "I managed this long, I can last a little longer. Besides, even if he has you for his pact partner, it's not safe for him to be alone in this dark place. As a fellow Seraph, I don't want him to suffer my fate."

"Thank you, Ion," Lucille thanked.

"But where would we find him?" Aster asked Lucille.

"Hmm..."

 _"I know where he is. He's on the upper floor of this castle,"_ Ava's voice chimed.

"I just heard Master Ava just now. She said he's on the floor above us," Lucille answered.

"Ah of course, Master Ava must have made contact with Florian during the time he has made the pact with you, so she would be familiar with his aura." Chi nodded.

"How did he get all the way up there?" Aster looked up at the castle's exterior. There was certainly a sense of nostalgia looking at this place, but no memories resurfaced no matter how hard Aster tried to push himself to remember.

"Um...that's another thing about corridors of lights-they can get you to any world you want, but...they're also very random at where you actually land when you get there." Ion laughed sheepishly.

"Wait, so you're saying these portals can just pop out of nowhere? Isn't that incredibly dangerous? What if it sends them right into a hole or a pit of monsters?" Aster cried out.

"Well...that is why I said they are risky to use. Seraphim don't really have much control in the realm of light, so we can't completely control the corridors of light as much as we'd like, not like how people who use the powers of darkness can control the corridors of darkness. It's bitterly ironic-in the realm of darkness we have no problem in, but once we're in the realm of light, we're incredibly weak and powerless without help," Ion sighed.

"Ion..."

"I'm sorry, that was very negative and unlike me. I think I know where your friend might have ended up, even with the castle twisted like this. Follow me," Ion quickly apologized. Ion then walked on ahead with the makeshift trio following behind slowly.

"Do you think that was the darkness that's eating away at Lord Ion's heart talk-" Chi started to say but then saw Lucille's look of disapproval.

"Chi, that's a terrible thing to say," She lightly scolded in a quiet whisper.

"Still, he did warn us about this happening. If he lasted this long, though, he's tougher than he claims he is. Let's put our faith in him," Aster whispered.

Lucille nodded and glanced at Ion from a distance while following him. _'Ion...we'll find a way to save you. I won't let things end for you the same way as the others did in the Keyblade War. You're thinking the same thing too, right Zen?'_ Lucille mentally swore to herself. There had to be another way that doesn't end in tragedy for either Ion or Zen.

There had to be another answer...

* * *

A little while later in the foyer, Sora, equipped with only his wooden sword, his sister's two friends and Beast, a large intimidating yet strong-hearted new friend of theirs that they met just outside the castle, managed to work his way around the crazy layout of the castle to reach this place.

Unfortunately, Beast was lured away from the group by a lone Heartless that disguised itself as the young woman that Beast was looking for, a girl named Belle. In his rage, he lunged at the Heartless, only for the doors to close behind him, shutting the beast out.

"Quit while you can," They heard Riku warn Sora.

"No. Not without Lucille or Kairi," Sora defiantly argued back.

"The darkness will destroy you." Riku changed from his usual clothes to that of a dark soldier attire, from shades of purple to black and blue with a heartless shaped insignia at the front.

"You're wrong, Riku. The darkness may destroy my body, but it can't touch my heart." Sora shook his head. He placed a hand over his heart. "My heart will stay with my friends. It'll never die!"

"Sora's right. You really don't get it, do you? I feel sorry for your heart; you don't appreciate it as much as you should," Zen added.

"Riku, listen to me, you're being tricked and lied to. If you would just-" Oswald tried to reason once more, but Riku wasn't hearing any of it.

"Really...Well, we'll just see about that!" Riku fired off what looked like a fast wave of dark light at the group that caused their bodies to freeze up as if they had been paralyzed.

"Ack! You snake!" Zen gritted his teeth. Being unable to dodge or move, they were unable to help Sora as the ball of dark light zoomed towards him.

"Sora ain't gonna go anywhere!" Goofy declared, using his shield weapon to deflect Riku's attack.

As soon as the attack was dispelled, Sora, Zen and Oswald were able to move again.

"Whew, now that was a close shave," Oswald sighed in relief.

"You'd betray your king?" Riku asked Goofy.

"Not on your life! But I'm not gonna betray Sora either, 'cause he's become one of my best buddies after all we've been through together!" Goofy shot back before giving a thumbs-up to Sora.

"You darn Goof. You really are hopeless." Oswald shook his head. "Still, I knew you'd listen to your heart in the end."

"See ya later, Donald. Could ya tell the king I'm really sorry?" Goofy called over to Donald.

"Hold on, Goofy! We'll tell him together." Donald was the next to run over and return to Sora's side. "Well, you know...All for one and one for all." Donald then added, although it was clear he felt awkward about it.

"Glad to see your heart's true feelings came around too, Donald." Oswald smiled.

"I guess you're stuck with us, Sora."

"Thanks a lot... Donald, Goofy." Sora felt truly happy that the two friends he had gotten close to during their whole adventure chose their friendship over their mission.

"How will you fight without a weapon?" Riku challenged.

"I know now I don't need the Keyblade. I've got a better weapon-my heart." Sora answered him seriously.

Riku simply scoffed at the idea. "Your heart? What good will that weak little thing do for you?"

"Although my heart may be weak, it's not alone. It's grown with each new experience, and it's found a home with all the friends I've made. I've become a part of their hearts just as they have become a part of mine. And if they think of me now and then...If they don't forget me, then our hearts will be one. I don't need a weapon. My friends are my power!" Sora got ready to fight, even with only a wooden sword to his name.

"Couldn't have put it better myself, kid." Oswald proudly nodded.

"That sounds just as corny as one of Lucille's speeches. You two really are twins," Zen sighed.

Then, by surprise, the Keyblade that was in Riku's hand vanished from his and returned into Sora's, replacing the wooden sword.

"Huh?! I got the Keyblade back? But I thought..." Sora looked genuinely shocked by this.

"We don't have time to talk. He doesn't look very happy about the Keyblade's sudden change of heart." Zen released his Heartless claw from the bandages that hid it from sight, and readied it for battle.

"We'll take care of Riku! I want to ask you two to go ahead and find Lucille. I'm sure she's already looking for you guys," Sora asked Zen and Oswald.

"But what about you, kid? Are you going to be-?" Oswald started to ask, but Sora interrupted.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. These guys have got my back." Sora grinned at Donald and Goofy, who nodded and gave a thumbs-up at Sora.

"...Alright, try not to die, okay? You've got to live to meet this girlfriend and your sister again. Don't make them cry over you," Zen told him.

"Wait...what?! Who told you that?! Was it Lucille?!"

"Zen, don't distract the kid!" Oswald scolded. "Don't worry, we'll find your sis, but we'll leave the heroic rescue of your friend to you, and we'll try not to steal the glory," Oswald teased and winked.

"Oh yeah...don't...tell Sis about what happened a while ago. She'd feel awful about it...and she _might_ kill Donald if she found out about that."

"WAK?!" Donald looked horrified.

"You sure that's wise? What if she found out on her own?" Zen asked.

"I know how to handle my own sister, but please, it's best she doesn't know."

"Hmmm, well, I trust ya, kid. Fine, I won't say a word." Oswald nodded.

"Alright, it's your funeral." Zen shrugged. "Let's go Oswald." Zen then turned to the rabbit.

"You betcha!" Oswald nodded. The two headed off up the long staircase of the foyer and ran further into the castle.

Riku tried to stop them, but Sora, Donald and Goofy blocked the way.

"No way, this is between you and me. I'm going to bring you back to your senses and save you, Riku!" Sora answered, determined to save his best friend from the darkness that had clearly had a strong hold over his friend's heart.

* * *

Lucille and the others found themselves in a ruined room that looked like it was once a master bedroom.

"Whoa, this room is huge! This is bigger than both mine and Sora's combined!" Lucille was awed by the size of the room.

Chi went over to what looked like a half-destroyed bed and jumped on the mattress. "I wonder if this was the room of Ansem the Wise, the ruler of this world."

"Yes, this was the room of Ansem the Wise and his Queen when she was still alive. Now that I think about it, ever since his wife's passing, he's never really used this room afterwards," Ion answered.

"Maybe it brought back too many memories for him," Lucille suggested.

"I imagine people in mourning would do that," Ion agreed. "It would seem the layout has changed from when I last remembered coming here. We shouldn't be too far from where the keyhole is now, as this room is close to that chamber."

"..."

"Aster? Is something wrong?" Lucille noted how quiet Aster was as he looked around the room as well.

"That woman on the portrait." He pointed to a wall painting that he was looking at. He knew this woman felt important to him, even though he had no recollection of meeting her...or did he?

"That is Queen Tia, Ansem's wife. She was one of the most loving and kindest people you could ever meet when she was alive, and was one of the few people who knew I existed. She and I would often spend time sharing stories when she visited the royal garden." Ion smiled softly in the memory of the queen.

"She sounds very lovely. I wish I could have met her." Lucille looked sadly at the portrait. It was surprisingly not in bad condition, given the current state of the castle. On closer inspection, a shocking realization raced through her mind as she noticed the queen had a striking resemblance to a certain someone.

"Wait...Kairi?!"

"You know Kairi?" Ion also looked surprised, hearing that familiar name.

"I sure do! She's my best friend who I practically think of as my sister!" Lucille cried out. "There's no doubt about it. Kairi looks so much like Queen Tia, but how is that possible?"

"Wait, then that girl who was in the chamber with the other princesses..." Ion came to his own shocking realization when it dawned on him that the girl who lost her heart was indeed the same Kairi he knew when she was very little. He cursed himself for being so blind to not notice this before.

"Hmm...Now that I think about it, I remember Zen and others mentioning once that I had a little sister who went missing when our world fell. We never knew what happened to her," Aster pondered out loud, trying to fit the pieces together in his mind.

"They told you that?" Lucille blinked. That wasn't what Zen told her.

"Well, I eavesdropped." Aster laughed sadly. "I know that they're hiding something. It's so frustrating to know they don't trust me to handle the truth," Aster admitted.

"Aster..." Lucille could sympathize. It hurt to know someone important to you was hiding secrets from you, that they don't trust you enough to handle those truths. It made her think of Riku, who obviously had been hiding a lot of his true thoughts and feelings out of fear, although he would be too proud to admit a thing.

"That said, it's not like I don't understand why they felt they needed to keep the truth to themselves. Even so, I'm seventeen now. I consider myself mature enough to accept whatever the truth is," He then added.

"Then maybe you should tell them how you feel." Lucille smiled.

Aster smiled back. "You know what? You're right, maybe I'm the one who was afraid to find out the truth. That's probably why I still can't remember even though I'm in the world that I was born in. Perhaps a part of me still doesn't want to remember, despite all my talk about wanting to remember the past. How ironic that would be."

"But you said yourself that you feel a familiarity with this woman in the portrait, so perhaps you knew Queen Tia?" Chi offered.

"That name...Kairi...I swear I know that name." Aster looked at the portrait in the hope of some answers. As if on cue, it would seem his wish was answered as he felt his head hurt.

He felt a painful throb pulse through his head as a memory at last resurfaced from the depths of his mind.

* * *

 _A seven-year-old Aster ran through the hallways of the castle, making his way to his sister's room. There were screams and cries for help echoing all over the castle as servants and royal castle guards alike fell to these black creatures with ominous yellow eyes._

 _He was very scared; these creatures were merciless to anyone who crossed their paths and had no qualms about stealing the hearts of others. Yet he couldn't give up now. He had to find Kairi, Zen and Ion._

 _He had not seen either Zen or Ion since they were called in by his father. When he finally had enough of waiting, he tried to gain entrance into the area where his father spent a lot of his time, but he was denied access every time. Despite being their mentor's son, that meant nothing to his apprentices._

 _But in this chaos, perhaps now he had a chance to go find them. He knows that man, Xehanort, did something to his friends, and he would see justice done when he gets his chance._

 _For now, he had to find them and escape this place before those creatures found them. He arrived near Kairi's room, where he saw his little sister peaking outside, looking frightened. When she saw her brother coming, she opened the door quickly and hugged her older brother tightly._

 _"Big brother!"_

 _"Kairi! I'm so glad you're okay!" Aster returned the hug. He had never felt so happy to see his sister's face. "Kairi, what happened to your handmaiden?"_

 _"S-She told me...to stay inside where it was safe, so she could call the palace guards for help. She never came back, though. Why did she not come back?" Kairi honestly answered._

 _Aster gave a grim look. Chances are that servant girl ended up becoming a victim to those...creatures. He couldn't tell his sister that, though. "Something must have held her up from coming back. Either way, it's not safe to stay here. Stick with me, okay? We're going to find Zen and Ion," Aster told her._

 _Kairi nodded and held on to her brother's hand. As the two were about to leave, two Heartless appeared behind them and, while they were looking the other way, silently crept up on them._

 _Just as they were about to jump on them, someone swung their weapon, ending their short existence as Heartless._

 _Aster and Kairi both turned around to see two palace guards, two that Aster knew quite well. "Sir Dilan! Sir Aeleus!" Aster cried out in relief._

 _"Young lord, are you alright? Those creatures didn't harm you or the princess, did they?" Aeleus bent down and checked on the two of them._

 _"Yes, we're alright. Thank you for being here when you were," Aster replied._

 _"Of course, as guards of this castle, we must protect the royal family at all costs," Dilan gruffly stated. "Now then, Aeleus, you must hurry and take the children to safety."_

 _"You intend to fight those things on your own?" Aeleus looked surprised at this._

 _"Do you honestly think these foul creatures will get the better of me? I'm hurt." Dilan gave a confident grin._

 _"...I understand. You had better make sure to come and find us once you take care of this rabble here," Aeleus gave a gruff response._

 _"Just let these pests try to best me. They will be sorely disappointed. Radiant Garden will not fall to the likes of them while I'm still around." Dilan armed himself ready with his lance, aiming it towards the number of Heartless that were encroaching._

 _"Sir Dilan, come with us! I don't want you to end up like everyone else who tried fighting them!" Aster didn't like the idea of leaving his mentor, who had been teaching him the art of fighting with a lance, on his own against this seemingly endless horde of Heartless._

 _"Do not worry, my prince. I do not plan to die here, but you and the princess must survive. Flee this place and, when the time is right, reclaim our home from these wretches. Now go!"_

 _Aeleus picked up both Aster and Kairi and ran as fast as he could away, with Dilan staying behind to buy time for their escape._

 _"Sir Dilan!"_

 _And the memory faded into white._

* * *

Aster gave a startled gasp as the memory triggered what seemed like a wave of memories that ran through him like a dam that had broken through and flooded his mind.

"Aster? Aster, are you okay?" Lucille grew concerned and went over to check on Aster.

"...That's it. I remember...I remember it all now," Aster answered in a shaken voice.

"You have? What happened just now? You looked like you were in pain," Lucille inquired.

Aster nodded. "It...certainly wasn't as painless as I hoped it would be. It seems, though, that Kairi's name was the trigger word to bring back all the memories that I lost."

"Do you regret it now?" Ion looked away.

Aster shook his head. "Of course not. This is what I wanted, after all, so looks like I got my wish granted." Aster then came over to Ion and took hold of Ion's arm that had already become black and twisted to look more like a Heartless claw. "Most of all, I'm really glad you're still here, Ion. You really scared me when you or Zen never came back, you jerk."

Ion smiled sadly. "I know. I'm so sorry I wasn't there to help you or Kairi."

Aster shook his head again. "Nah, we're the ones who should be sorry. You waited so long for us to come back and save this world, but we never did, and look what's become of you."

"This was the choice that I chose. I don't regret that choice. In the very least, I will fulfill my role as guardian to this world to make up for my failures as a guardian before. I should have done something about Xehanort. If only I had realized what he was up to sooner, I could have prevented all of this," Ion told him.

"But at this rate, you're going to die! I don't want that, and neither does Zen or Kairi. You think that will make us happy, knowing you had to give up your own life to protect a world like this?"

"You misunderstand. All worlds, no matter how bright they are, will always have shadows, but despite that, I still believe that the light within people's hearts will overcome their darkest shadow. Even after all these years, I still believe that from the bottom of my heart. Besides, so long as I can protect the people that are most precious to me, the darkness can try to distort me and change me as much as it wants. That's the one thing I won't falter on."

"You're incredible, you know that Ion?" Lucille smiled.

"Forgive me for asking this, but what happened to you in the past that caused your memory loss to occur, Aster?" Chi asked.

"Chi! You can't ask something like that out of the blue!" Lucille scolded.

"No, you guys deserve to know this. No wonder the others wanted to keep it a secret from me. Even I didn't think that I would end up being the Prince of this world."

"...Prince? You're a prince?! But if the Kairi I know is your little sister...that means..." It took some time for that to sink in for Lucille, but once it did, she cried out, "OH MY GOD! MY BEST FRIEND IS A PRINCESS?" Lucille screamed.

"Well...to put it bluntly...yeah, pretty much." Aster sweatdropped.

"..." She was speechless.

"Uh, are you okay with me continuing? Or does your brain need rebooting?" Aster lightly joked.

"N-No, I-I'm totally okay." Lucille shook her head quickly and coughed to regain her composure. "Sorry about that freak out. You can continue," Lucille quickly apologized.

"Well, after Sir Aeleus literally carried both Kairi and me, we ended up being surrounded by more Heartless. I remember that I wanted to protect my sister, so I remembered to bring my practice lance as my means of defense. As you can imagine, it did very little to protect me. I was struck by a large Heartless, and I hit myself on something hard, probably the floor or the outside wall of the castle. I'm certain that's when my memory loss happened," Aster recalled.

"So you don't know what happened to Kairi or Sir Aeleus?" Lucille asked.

"No, I was probably unconscious throughout the rest of the attack. Next thing I remember, I was in a bed in Traverse Town with Zen, Oswald, Leon, Cid, Yuffie and Aerith there. We were the only survivors of the attack. I feel awful, not only did I forget who I was, I even forgot about Zen, Ion and Kairi. I can only imagine how much that hurt Zen."

"Zen thinks very fondly of you. He must have felt really guilty about it," Lucille guessed.

"Yeah, I know. Even my heart seemed to know myself better than me. In all those ten years in Traverse Town, I never really thought about how that guilt affected my best friend. Maybe that's one of the reasons why he's always held himself at a distance from everyone. I should have been a better friend," Aster smiled sadly.

"The heart is truly amazing. It was able to remember things that you were unable to. That, in turn, helped you become the man that you are today, and that turned out pretty well," Chi added.

"If it's any consolation, Kairi doesn't remember anything either. So...chances are...She might not remember you," Lucille noted sadly.

Aster shook his head. "So long as we can save her and she's safe, that will be more than enough. It doesn't matter if Kairi remembers me or anything about her past. I'd be happy just seeing her happy with the life she has now. After all, I can tell by the way you talk about her that you and Kairi are very close indeed," Aster added with a smirk.

Lucille laughed. "So I guess in a way, since I already consider Kairi to be like a sister, that makes us family, too."

"Hm, I wouldn't mind that at all." Aster grinned.

"We should hurry then. Kairi's waiting for us." Ion reminded the two of them of their current goal.

"Right! I bet Flo will be there, too. Let's go." Lucille nodded.

 _"Lucille, be careful. I sense a large gathering of both light and dark there. Be ready for anything."_ Ava's warning echoed through her.

 _'Got it. Thanks, Ava,'_ Lucille mentally thanked the Foreteller.

The group left the old bedroom and continued to follow Ion's guidance towards the Keyhole's chamber.

* * *

Back in the keyhole's chamber, Moira and Florian were watching from their hiding place the evil fairy who was waiting to see if the Seven Princesses had reversed Ion's seraphic arte yet.

"I'm amazed she hasn't caught on to us yet," Moira whispered.

"Maybe she's too distracted by what she's trying to do?" Florian whispered a question back.

"Either way, we gotta keep our heads low for now. If she finds us here, we're history. Would be a different story if a certain key boy and his sister didn't take a decade to get here."

"I know Sora and Lucille will be here soon. I can feel Lucille getting closer to this place," Florian reassured the Dream Eater Witch.

"Well, can't ignore the words of a Seraph now, can I?" Moira shrugged.

It was around that time that they saw someone else come in, garbed in a dark suit worn by Seekers of Darkness, or so Master Matoya had explained to Moira.

"Riku? And what is that weird outfit he's wearing?" Florian was confused.

"Wow, Master Matoya wasn't kidding. That thing really does look creepy as heck. You wouldn't see me dead wearing such a gaudy outfit, though. And people say my clothes are outlandish!" Moira commented.

"...?" Florian raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

They silently moved closer and hid themselves away each time until Riku had stopped walking and stood beside Maleficent. When they hid themselves away from sight yet were close enough to eavesdrop on them, they heard Riku speak...but even they could tell that something was off from the way he spoke in a dual-tone voice.

"So, I see the path has emerged at last."

"Yes, the Keyhole to the darkness."

"Very soon, that eyesore of a seraphic seal that was created by that foolish guardian as his last desperate attempt to defy the darkness will be no more. Unlock it, and the Heartless will overrun this world."

"What do I care? The darkness holds no power over me." Maleficent shook her head and scoffed at the warning. "Rather, I will use its power to rule all worlds."

"Such confidence." Riku didn't seem at all bothered by Maleficent's words.

"...Something's wrong. Riku's acting way too calm about all this." Florian shook his head.

"This is bad. Master Matoya's prediction about that guy came true after all. Damn it, Riku, can't you do **one** thing right without screwing things up for everyone?" Moira hissed.

"Master Matoya had a prediction?" Florian repeated.

Moira didn't answer. She continued to listen in on their conversation to learn more. What took her by surprise, though, was when Riku summoned a sinister-looking Keyblade in his hand.

"Oh!" Maleficent seemed just as surprised by this.

"That weapon...I can feel so much malice coming from it. Something is terribly wrong with that Keyblade." Florian shivered.

"That's one creepy Keyblade, alright. How did that idiot get a hold of another one, though? The one he was supposed to get chose Sora as its Master in the end." Moira narrowed her eyebrows in deep thought.

Florian was about to ask in more detail about what Moira meant, but then they heard more of the conversation. It would seem, despite having a Keyblade in his hands, no matter what evil aura radiated from it, it was unable to undo Ion's seraphic arte or unlock the keyhole that was hidden within.

"Wha-? Impossible! The Princesses of Heart are all here!" Maleficent seemed puzzled as to why the seal wasn't undone. She then turned her gaze to Kairi's sleeping form. "It must be her."

"Without her heart, she will never be able to release her power."

They heard what sounded like a bestial roar from afar.

"It seems the king's fools are here. I'll deal with them myself." Maleficent stated as she made her way to fight Sora and his friends. "You stay here and guard the princesses."

As Maleficent left, Riku's body glowed in a whitish-blue hue. It felt very ominous from where Moira and Florian were hiding from sight.

"Will Sora and his friends be okay?" Florian whispered.

"I sure hope so. If they die here, our future really will be screwed for certain." Moira nodded. "If we're clever about this, we could probably sneak at least that girl out of here," Moira told the Seraph.

"Now that we're finally alone at last, we meet again, little Seraph." A horrible chill ran down their spines as they turned to see Riku, or at least 'supposedly', staring down at them with a malicious smile.

Florian gasped in horror.

"Watch out, kid!" Moira reached out to the Seraph to defend him, but then everything suddenly went dark for the both of them.

* * *

Aha! Cliffhanger! Muahahaha! Ahem, anyways, that's all for the second part of the Hollow Bastion Arc. Next chapter will probably be the final part of this arc, then we'll be nearing the end game point soon after. =3

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, alerted or even read the story so far. You guys have been great. =3 And this story would not have gotten far without your support. Gonna have to start planning out the Chain of Memories saga soon. Already got a rough idea of how to start the next one. Just need to get to the end of this story first. XD

And I hope I didn't give you too much work with this chapter, Xxser3ndipityxX. ^^;

Sadly, no time for review corner for this chapter. So until next chapter, happy reading, folks, and have a great day! Moogle Empress out!

Moogle: Kupo!


	19. Episode 18: Sacrifice

**Episode 18: Sacrifice**

* * *

Zen and Oswald were the first to arrive at what was a large circular room.

"Are you sure we're going the right way? I think this is a dead end," Oswald asked.

"Strange, I'm sure it was this way before. Could the layout of the castle have changed?" Zen frowned and tried to remember the way to Ion's sanctuary, which was also where the keyhole was hidden in this world. Zen had figured if their friends would be anywhere, they would go there directly.

"This area looks empty save for that giant circle table over there. Maybe this was where Maleficent and her cronies had all their meetings," Oswald guessed.

While Zen was trying to recall the way to their destination, they were soon reunited with Sora and his friends, who must have been storming their way through the castle non-stop.

"Zen! Oswald!"

"Hey, looks like we should have just stuck together in that foyer if we were gonna end up meeting each other here despite that headstart you gave us." Oswald gave a carefree greeting wave.

"So you couldn't find Lucille or the others yet?" Sora's expression looked pained as he said that. He must really be worried for his sister.

"No, but I have an idea where they could be heading. Our problem is actually getting there." Zen shook his head.

"But this place looks like a dead end. Maybe we should look for another way around." Donald looked around the room.

"No, I definitely remember this was the way into Ion's chamber. I know it is." Zen shook his head. After going through it in his head countless times, there was no way he could mistake this place being the entrance.

"Uh, isn't that the guardian fella who's still looking after this place? Maybe he wanted to keep it shut away from dangerous folks, so he hid it away with those uhh...Seraphic tarts?" Goofy suggested.

"Artes, Goofy! Artes!" Donald corrected loudly.

"Oh right, hyuck! Seraphic artes," Goofy nodded and corrected his mistake.

"Actually...that's not such a bad suggestion. That would be something Ion would do. That's going to pose a problem since we don't have Florian right now." Zen looked surprised at Goofy's theory. It was at times like this that a Seraph would be very handy to have around since they could locate their own kin's artes easily.

"I'm afraid you're too late," Maleficent's voice boomed in the room, making them all face the evil fairy that was in front of them. "Any moment now, the final keyhole will be unsealed. This world will be plunged into darkness. It is unstoppable. Who knows what will happen to the guardian, though, since that seal is connected to his very essence. Who knows, maybe I'll gain a powerful new pet when he converts to becoming a Heartless completely." She gave a cruel smile to the greenette.

Zen clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. He could feel anger rising in him from her mocking of his friend.

 _"Zen, calm yourself. Don't let her get to you. She's just trying to fuel the darkness within your arm so you lose control of it."_ Gula gave some wise words of wisdom for once.

 _'...Thanks. For a moment, all I could see was red,'_ Zen mentally thanked as he calmed himself, not allowing the claw arm to go out of control.

 _"Don't worry, she's going to taste her own medicine right back at her soon enough,"_ Gula told him. The Foreteller knew that the evil fairy before them had her heart slowly eaten away by the darkness, yet she did not even realize it.

"We'll stop it! After coming this far, there's no way we're gonna let that happen!" Sora prepared his keyblade as the others also got ready to fight.

"You're wrong about Ion. He's not as weak as you think he is. Ion has an inner strength that I can only wish that I possessed. Your words are as hollow as your own heart," Zen told her.

"You poor, simple fools. You think you can defeat me? Me, the mistress of all evil?" With that she casted a spell that caused the circle platform below her to levitate and float in the air.

"Be ready, everyone! She's going to be a tough one to crack!" Oswald gave a heads up to everyone present as he summoned his own keyblade into action.

They were locked into combat with Maleficent, the most evil and cunning of them all-or so they thought. They didn't know that a far worse evil was waiting for them up ahead.

* * *

Meanwhile, around that same time, Lucille, Aster, Chi and Ion stumbled upon what looked like a large circle room that was literally empty.

"Strange, I have never seen this room before." Ion looked surprised at where they had ended up, despite following the pathway that he knew previously to be the way to the keyhole's chamber.

"Did we walk right into a room that we're not supposed to be in?" Lucille wondered.

"But...we were just in a hallway just now; how could we just end up walking into this room?" Aster seemed confused.

"Was that hallway an illusion? This castle has become more warped by the darkness than I thought. Does that mean the seal I casted is weakening? Causing the distortions in this castle to become more erratic?" Ion wondered.

"Then if the seal protecting the keyhole really does get removed, what does that mean for what remains of this world?" Chi questioned.

 _"It's very likely that this world will not stand a chance against the wave of Heartless that is probably waiting for the keyhole to be reopened even as we speak. It'll be plunged into the Realm of Darkness."_ Ava's words rung through Lucille's mind again.

As if Ion had heard Ava's words, he confirmed what she told Lucille through their personal connection. "It would mean the literal end of this world. The Heartless will overrun this place and devour the core of this world. Like I said before, it would be impossible to renew the seal twice in the time frame we have," Ion answered.

"We can't let that happen! There's people who want to take this world back and rebuild it with its light restored. We can't let their hopes end here. Besides, I still have people I wanna save," Lucille bravely stated.

"I admire your determination but..." Ion seemed doubtful. "You don't know what the darkness is capable of doing to a person. It can destroy your heart so easily. I don't know what I was thinking endangering both you and Aster like this by letting you help me. I'm supposed to be the guardian of this world. I can't risk others being hurt for my failures."

"Ion. You can trust Lucille. she's pretty stubborn when it comes to any decision she makes. Even when Zen tried to stop her from coming with him and Oswald, she barged her way in," Aster reassured while lightly joking at the memory.

"Hey...I didn't barge in." She pouted and puffed her cheeks.

"Heh, my point still stands. In a small way, you've invoked a change in him. I noticed that from the last time you guys were in Traverse Town. He seemed less guarded around you," Aster pointed out.

"...Really? Has he really changed? He's still pretty prickly when I talk to him. Also, he doesn't stop calling me "Island Girl"! It's really annoying!" Lucille tilted her head then cried out in frustration.

Aster didn't say anything but kept his smirk plastered to his face.

"It sounds like Zen has gone through quite a development. The Zen I remember was always a quiet and rather skittish boy." Ion had a thoughtful look.

Lucille had a look of sheer disbelief. "Zen? Skittish? Quiet? We're talking about the same guy here, right?" Lucille raised an eyebrow.

"It's true. He was much more sensitive and often hid away from sight a lot as a kid. Actually, now that I think about it, he still does that-only, he's way less obvious about it," Aster added.

Lucille did note that Zen often kept himself at a distance from most people they meet, almost as if he was trying to make himself disappear.

"I see, so he still has his coping mechanism. Some things never change. I hope that he will learn in time to overcome his insecurities." Ion smiled softly.

"I think he's getting there. So long as that claw arm of his is still there, though, he'll struggle to let go..." Aster trailed off.

"Lord Ion, would there be some way to change Zen's arm back to a normal one?" Chi asked.

"I wish I knew the answer myself. I am not sure what that man, Xehanort, did to him, but whatever he did, it left many scars on Zen's heart," Ion sighed. 'I wonder if he'll ever be ready to face those memories that I sealed away within him. I don't want him to break, just like he almost did ten years ago...'

"What did you mean by 'coping mechanism'?" Lucille wondered.

"Well, as a child growing up here, a lot of the residents of this world were afraid of him because he came from another world. So it led to a lot of people gossiping about him, even if he was present."

"That's totally unfair! How could they be so cold?" Lucille gasped.

"Indeed, that's far too cruel," Chi agreed.

"Zen was also bullied by some of the local kids when he was by himself in town. As a way of dealing with his problems, he would hide out in the library and keep out of sight. Even I had a hard time getting him to open up to me at first."

"I never imagined. Poor Zen." Lucille felt sorry for her friend. It made a lot of sense why Zen always acted so defensive and frosty with his attitude.

"What I don't understand is why they didn't make such a fuss about Xehanort when he arrived in a similar manner to Zen." Ion mainly directed that question to himself.

"Who's Xehanort? You've mentioned him a few times now." Lucille raised an eyebrow.

Before she could get an answer, though, they heard someone with laboured breathing, as if they were in pain. They all turned to see it was the evil fairy who had just used what looked like a small warp that lead into this dead end room.

"You...How did you fools escape from your cells?" Maleficent scowled.

"None of your business. I'm gonna make you pay for deceiving Riku with your lies, you-!" Lucille was about to approach her, but Aster stopped her.

"She's not worth it. Besides, I have some questions of my own. Why did you tell Riku to kidnap me in particular? I'm no Princess of Heart as you can clearly tell, so I would be useless to you," Aster asked.

Maleficient just glared and said nothing, but then a black portal showed up out of nowhere-Riku stepped out of it with the black keyblade in his hand still. "Do you need some help?"

It didn't pass their attention that there was something very off about Riku. His voice sounded as if there were two different voices mixed together. One was Riku's, the other was someone else's they did not know.

"...Riku? No...You can't be Riku. There's something off about you," Lucille noted.

"How very astute of you. Just what I'd expect from one of the five Foretellers' successors."

Lucille was taken slightly aback by this. _"He knows? But how?"_ Ava sounded just as confused as Lucille.

"Wait, how did you know about that? I doubt that's just common knowledge." It was Ion's turn to demand an answer.

"Ah, the seraph guardian of this world-you turned out to be more of a nuisance than I thought."

"I'll take that as a compliment. Just who are you?" Ion narrowed his eyes.

"It is I, Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness."

"Ansem? Wait! Ansem as in 'Ansem the wise'?!" Lucille gasped.

"No, that's not Lord Ansem. I've known him since he was a small child. He doesn't sound anything like that. It's just a Heartless using his name," Ion shot down.

"Yeah, I got that impression, too. I may have been little when I last saw him, but even I know you aren't him," Aster agreed.

"Think what you like-it changes nothing."

Around that time, the small black portal that seemed to be the only entrance to this isolated room widened again to allow another group to enter. Lucille recognized them immediately.

"Hey, guys! You're here! Wait, Sora's with you too?" Lucille waved happily. Seeing her brother with them was a surprise, though.

"Sis! You're okay!" Sora waved back, with relief washing over them all.

"You two are hard work to find! And what were you thinking wandering this place without a weapon?! Have you forgotten about this castle crawling with Heartless?" Zen scoffed.

 _"Admit it, you're relieved to see her. You can't hide your true feelings from me~"_ Gula teased.

"Shut it, you," Zen quietly snapped at the foreteller through gritted teeth.

"Well, **nice** to see you again, too, Zen. And for your information, I'm no one's damsel. Aster and I can still fend for ourselves just fine." Lucille rolled her eyes.

 _"Hee hee, he's just happy to see you."_ Ava giggled.

Lucille slightly nodded. _'At least they're okay, too. I was worried that Riku might have done something he would have regretted. I'm glad that I was wrong.'_

"Well, whatever, at least you didn't get yourselves killed." Zen crossed his arms.

"You're not honest with yourself. It looked like to me you were worried about us~" Aster smirked.

"Aster, you're just as guilty as she is." Zen glared back.

"As glad as I am to see you kids okay, I have to ask: How did you guys get all the way here by yourselves?" Oswald questioned.

"Let's save that for after we deal with them." Aster pointed back to Riku and Maleficent.

"Riku?" Sora looked surprised to see Riku here. Why did something feel very off about him?

"Is that-" Donald started to ask.

"Yes, a Keyblade. But unlike yours, this keyblade holds the power to unlock people's hearts."

"People's...hearts?" Zen did not like the sound of that.

"Allow me to demonstrate..." Riku started before turning around and stabbing the keyblade through Maleficent's heart. "Behold!"

"Wha-"

"What are you doing?! Stop that!" Lucille cried out.

"Now, open your heart. Surrender it to the darkness! Become darkness itself!" he ordered as he pulled out the keyblade from Maleficent's chest. Just before he left, he turned to the brunette girl and gave a smirk. "Oh, by the way, if you survive this, there's a certain someone that you're looking for waiting for you there. I hope you don't disappoint me, girl. After all, you are one of the successors-you and that boy over there." He directed his gaze at Zen for a brief moment, then he vanished through a portal of darkness he summoned.

"Wait! What did you mean by that?!" Lucille demanded but got no answer.

"Wait, stay away from Maleficent. Something's wrong with her." Zen ran over and took hold of Lucille's arm before pulling her back to where the group was.

"Aster, stay with them. I have to stop that Ansem imposter. I'm worried what he plans to do," Ion whispered.

"But what about-"

"I don't want Zen to know what has happened to me. I don't want him to feel responsible for something that was never his fault to begin with. Besides, this is something I have to do. This is my duty as guardian. If the worst should happen to me...please just put an end to me," Ion told him, and with that, left the area through the same secret passage that they used to get inside the room.

"Wait, Ion, get back here. you idiot!" Aster shouted after him. This got Zen's immediate attention.

"Wait, what did you say, Aster?" Zen looked at his friend with a shocked look.

"Oh...that's right. You don't know yet." Aster bit his lip. Zen still didn't know that he had gotten his memories back. Just when he was about to explain, they heard Maleficent's mad cackling.

"This is it! This power! Darkness...the true darkness!" Maleficent was engulfed in green flames that roared and grew bigger. Everyone armed themselves ready-everyone except Lucille.

"Oh no, that's right, I still don't have the Lux Arma back yet..." Lucille realized in horror.

"We'll take care of Maleficent. Aster, you get Lucille outta here," Sora ordered Aster.

"No way, I'm not leaving you guys here, not after we just met up again!" Lucille shook her head.

"This is no time to be stubborn, island girl. Trust us, none of us plan on dying here," Zen tried to reason.

"No, that's not the point!" Lucille still refused to leave.

"I didn't like the way that guy was talking. What if he was talking about Kairi? Or Florian even? You need to go and stop him from whatever he's cookin' up. You got it?" Oswald told her.

"..." Lucille clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.

"Lucille, just trust us, please. We'll be fine. You need to go help your friend. You can't let that guy get away with what he's planning," Zen tried to explain again, softer this time.

"...Fine. You better promise me that you'll show up, okay?" Lucille hated the idea of leaving them here to fight the monstrous dragon that was once Maleficent.

"Oh, we'll be there. Aster, keep her safe, got it?" Zen turned to Aster.

"...I don't like it, but I trust you. I'll be very upset if you break your promise now." Aster frowned but sighed in defeat. He then turned to Lucille, "Let's go, Lucille. Let's believe in them."

"Okay..." Lucille nodded and followed after Aster as they escaped from the room, Chi following behind them.

"Alright, time to end this, Maleficent, once and for all." Sora told the black dragon that Maleficent had now transformed into, with Keyblade in hand.

* * *

"I really don't like leaving them to face her like that." Lucille still had her doubts as they hurried to find the entrance to this chapel where the keyhole was supposedly hidden.

"I know. I don't like it either, but they do have a point. Without the Lux Arma, you don't have a weapon to fend yourself with, and magic can only take you so far before you run out of mana," Aster agreed.

"I feel so useless like this. I hope Kairi and Flo are okay. You don't think...that guy did something to them?"

"His words were pretty ominous. We better be prepared for anything," Aster told her.

"Yeah..."

'Everyone, please be okay,' Lucille prayed mentally.

"By the way, what happened to Lord Ion? He vanished," Chi wondered.

"About that...He went ahead to try and stop that Ansem imposter who's taken hold of Riku's body."

"Without us? But that's dangerous!"

"No kidding. I wonder why he was trying to avoid Zen, though?"

Just then, a doorway appeared magically before them, making both of them jump in shock.

"Okay...was not expecting that." Aster blinked.

"That must have been where Ion went," Lucille guessed.

"I can sense an incredible dark presence that way, so please be careful, you two," Chi warned them.

Lucille picked up Chi and held her in her arms. "C'mon, that must be where they're hiding all the Princesses, along with Kairi, and Flo might be there, too."

"Right, keep your guard up. This is obviously a trap."

"No doubt, but we have to go in there, don't we?" Lucille nodded.

The two entered inside the new doorway that had revealed itself to them. After passing the lift stop and following the linear path, they found themselves in a giant hall, where they saw the sleeping Princess of Hearts inside.

"Look! There's Alice! What's she doing here?" Lucille recognized one of the Princesses to be the kind girl that she met in Wonderland. She then looked on the other side of the room to see Jasmine there, too. "No way, Jasmine is here, too!"

"I take it you met them on your journey?" Aster asked.

Lucille nodded. "We have to help them!" Lucille ran over to Alice's pedestal first and tried to pull the thorns off them, but she ended up pricking herself. "Ow!"

"I know you want to help them, but I think these thorns were enchanted by Maleficent. They won't tear off easily," Aster told her. He then casted a light cure spell to heal her hands. "I'm no healer like Aerith, but I know a bit of healing magic." Aster smiled.

"Thanks." Lucille smiled back. "So, those thorns will stay there until Maleficent is defeated?"

"I imagine so. I read that if the caster dies their magic goes with them, or at least that's the theory behind it." Aster nodded.

"Oh, look up there. That must be where the keyhole is!" Chi pointed upwards to the far end of the grand hall.

"...That's...one giant keyhole." Lucille blinked.

"To think Ion had been looking after something this huge for generations. I don't envy his work." Aster whistled.

"Maybe we'll find him there, let's go." Lucille rushed on ahead.

"Wait, Lucille!" Aster followed after her.

When they ran up the staircase to the higher floor of the room, just mere inches away from the keyhole itself, they arrived in time to see Ion get pushed back roughly by a dark wave of energy, throwing the Seraph to the ground. With a groan of pain, he tried to push himself back up using his arms for support, but his body felt so weak he would have collapsed on the ground again if Aster hadn't caught him.

"Aster? Lucille? Why are you both here?" Ion asked in a weak voice.

"Stop it! I don't know who the heck you are, but you get out of Riku right now! He's not some puppet for you to toy with." Lucille glared at this 'Ansem imposter' who had taken possession over Riku's body.

"You are simply wasting your time, girl. His heart belongs to darkness now. He chose this of his own volition. The minds of children are so easy to mold, don't you agree, Lord Ion?" The imposter gave a mocking smile as he taunted the guardian.

Ion didn't say anything but narrowed his eyes dangerously at him.

"You lie, Riku would never agree to something like this. You tricked him! Both you and Maleficent! You made him false promises that you never intended to keep. You preyed on the goodness of his heart and made him do horrible things," Lucille accused.

"If that is true, you are just as guilty as he is. After all, he did all that for yours and this girl's sake."

"..."

"Nevertheless, I have a surprise for you. I believe you know these two quite well," He continued and revealed Florian and Moira, who were being pinned down to the ground by claws made out of darkness coming out of dark puddles below them.

"Florian! Moira!" She didn't know why Moira was here, but just as she was about to run over to help them—

"No, Lucille! You have to run, it's a trap!" Florian cried.

"A trap?" Aster repeated.

"I'd stay where you stand if I were you. My hand holding the keyblade might slip," The seeker warned, bringing the weapon closer to Florian. Lucille stopped in her tracks when she saw just how close it was to Florian's chest.

"I believe you are fully aware that a Seraphim's heart is made up of pure light. Even hearts of light can be turned to darkness if given the right exposure and conditions. Your little friend over there is proof."

Ion gritted his teeth.

"More like you experimented on him," Aster argued back.

"What do you plan on doing to them?" Ion stood in between Aster and Lucille and the Seeker of Darkness before them, turning his direction to the two captives on the Ansem imposter's side.

"Nothing...yet." The Seeker's lips turned into a smirk.

"Unhand Lord Florian and Miss Moira at once you foul-Eeeeeeeeeeeeek!" Chi boldly charged towards the seeker, only to get ungracefully thrown far across the other side of the large chapel room when the Seeker fired another wave of dark energy that flung the Chirithy high in the air.

"Chi!" Both Lucille and Florian cried out in panic.

"If you think I will stand by and let whatever plan you have in mind to succeed, you have another thing-" Ion started to say before he felt his chest and throat tighten in pain and went into a coughing fit, causing him to fall to his knees as he used one hand to cover his mouth.

"Ion, are you okay?" Aster bent down to check up on the guardian seraph.

When Ion removed his hand from his mouth once the coughing had stopped, he saw black liquid on his hand.

"I see your time is running short, guardian. Very soon, you will become the very creature that your kind has fought against. Such poetic irony. Heh, you're already halfway to becoming a heartless given the current condition of your body," The Seeker notified.

"Don't underestimate my kind. Even in the deepest darkness, there will always be a light to guide wayward hearts back onto the right path, even when all other lights go out."

"That's the saying Lord Kuroshi always says..." Florian realized. Did he accidently misremember his own teacher's words?

"I know what light guides me. I still haven't lost sight of it." Ion got back onto his feet.

"Hmph, you Seraphim are always so sickeningly naive. What do you plan to do alone?"

"He's not alone. We're here with him. And not just me-there's someone else who's been wanting to see him again and fought so hard to try and save him from something you started, you creep. There's no way I'm letting all that effort go to waste!" Lucille countered.

Ion knew who Lucille was speaking of, and he couldn't help but give a small smile at that. _'I don't know what I'm going to do with that kid...'_

"Ah, you speak of my little lost pet. I must thank both of you for luring him back here. If I had known you two had a connection to him, I would have coaxed that evil fairy into kidnapping you long ago."

"So that's the reason why you kidnapped me." Aster clenched his fists. "I was just the bait."

"The girl over there also has great importance. How convenient that you had ended up here as well, child. It makes gathering the five of you together much less of a chore."

"The...five of us?" Lucille repeated.

"I, Ansem, know everything that there is to know-about darkness, about the heart, even the fabled era of Fairytales, where the Foretellers once existed."

"You're not Lord Ansem! Stop deluding yourself!" Ion snapped.

"For someone who knows everything, you don't know how to get a body of your own, so you have to steal one instead," Lucille roasted.

"How spirited, but I digress. Needless to say, these two have outlived their usefulness. They brought you right where I want you. Maybe I should take care of the witch first. It'll be interesting to see how your heart hides your false valour once it's unlocked." He turned to Moira and raised the keyblade, ready to stab it through Moira's chest.

"Do your worst, you fake!" Moira goaded.

"Don't encourage him, ya crazy witch!" A familiar voice arrived as their keyblade collided with the Seeker's just in time to save Moira.

"Oswald!" Lucille beamed as she saw the familiar rabbit block the attempt.

"Hey there. Sorry we're late, we didn't miss much, right?" Oswald asked before he found himself locked in a duel with the Seeker. "Quick, help the kid and Moira."

Florian and Moira soon found themselves free from their binds as a heartless claw tore off the other claws that held them captive.

"Zen! Thank you, you saved us," Florian thanked, easing his wrists from the tight grip those claws had on him.

"Technically, it was the rabbit, but sure, you're welcome." Zen rolled his eyes.

"Zen, you made it!" Lucille cheered.

"I told you I wasn't planning on dying. Geez, have a little faith in my abilities."

"Lucille!" Florian ran over and hugged the brunette girl. "We're together again! I'm so glad you're okay. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you better." He was overflowing with all sorts of emotions. Most of them were joyful ones, but there was also a touch of pain as well.

"Flo, I'm probably even more guilty than you are about that. I'm so happy that you're okay, too." Lucille gently petted the small seraph's head. "How did you get caught by that guy, though?"

"Um...I used a Corridor of Light to get here. For some reason it took me here instead of the entrance of this castle. I met Miss Moira here, though. We were spying on him, waiting for you to appear but...he must have figured out where we were," Florian explained.

"I see. At least you're not hurt. That's the important thing. That reminds me, how did you guys find this place? Did the secret hallway appear for you too?"

"Furball was the one who showed us where it was. Apparently, she said she got thrown out by whoever was possessing Riku and told us to hurry. Figured there was something not right about him. He's more of a jerk than before," Zen explained. "You and Aster are alright, though, right?"

"Naturally, you're the one who should have a little more faith in our abilities."

"No kidding, we're not that helpless." Aster placed his hands on his hips.

Zen retorted, "Oh, whatever. At least you two haven't done anything reckless...yet."

"There's the Zen we all know and love," Aster teased.

"Lady Lucille! Are you alright? That foul Seeker hasn't harmed you, has he?"

"No, I'm fine, Chi. Are you alright. though? That sounded like it hurt when he threw you so far away."

"Don't worry about me. It'll take more than that to seriously hurt my kind. I think I have a bruise on my head, though," Chi answered.

"Oh yeah, I have something important to tell you. It's about-!" Florian remembered what Lord Yggdrasil told him and was about to speak about that until another voice stopped him mid-sentence.

"Kairi!" That voice belonged to Sora.

"Yo, I believe there's a princess who needs your help." Moira pointed to Kairi.

Lucille gasped. "That's right, Kairi!" She then ran over to where Kairi was next to her brother.

"Wait, are you implying what I think you are saying? That this Kairi is the same as-"

"It's true. I have the memories to confirm it. There's no doubt that she's my little sister," Aster confirmed.

"...You remember everything?"

Aster nodded. "I've got some choice words for you, but we'll talk about it later. This isn't the right time for it. Right now, we need to help Ion and-" Aster continued but froze when he realized he mentioned Ion's name.

"Ion?! He's here?" Zen tried to listen out for Ion's voice, but he couldn't hear him.

"Ah...did I say Ion? You must have misheard." Aster tried to backtrack but Zen was not buying it.

"Aster...Have you forgotten that I can still sense the presence of Seraphim despite losing my sight? There's no point lying to me." Zen frowned.

He then sighed. "Yes, Ion's here but..."

"...It's been a long time indeed. You've...gotten taller than me now. I think my pride is hurt," Ion spoke up.

"It is you! I'm so glad to hear your voice. What happened to you? Why did you stay behind?" Zen felt relieved to know that Ion wasn't lost yet. Little did he know just how close Ion actually was to his limit.

"Zen...You can't see my form right now, right?"

"That came out of nowhere. No, I wish I could, though."

"...Trust me, it's for the best if you don't see what I look like now. A lot has changed in ten years. I had hoped you'd never have to see me look this pathetic."

"What do you mean?"

"Never mind, we still need to take care of that Seeker." Ion shook his head.

Meanwhile back with Sora and Lucille, Sora picked up Kairi's upper half and gently shook her. "Kairi! Kairi! Open your eyes!"

"What happened to Goofy?" Lucille noticed one of the trio was not with them.

Just then, Oswald was roughly thrown like a ragdoll, and he landed harshly on his back, nearly losing his grip on his keyblade. "Oswald! Are you alright?" Lucille checked up on her friend.

"Dang, that guy possessing Riku isn't playing around. He's tough." Oswald gritted his teeth.

"It's no use," The Seeker spoke, making Sora and everyone else face him. "That girl has lost her heart. She cannot wake up."

"What? You...You're not Riku," Sora realized.

"The Keyhole cannot be completed so long as the last Princess of Heart sleeps."

"The princess...?" Sora looked back at Kairi, trying to process the information he had just heard until it suddenly sunk in. "Kairi's a princess?"

"..." Lucille glared at the Seeker.

"What is he trying to accomplish by telling him this?" Ava wondered, her question echoing in Lucille's head.

"Yes, and without her power the keyhole will remain incomplete and the seraphic seal remains intact, although at the rate the guardian's deteroration is going, the seal will disappear by itself."

"I don't like this, he's giving this information out way too easily." Zen watched him carefully.

"He's planning something. Be careful, that kid could be in danger." Gula warned.

"It is time she awakened."

"Whoever you are, let Riku go! Give him back his heart!" Sora spoke out.

"But first, you must give the princess back her heart." The Seeker softly smirked and pointed the keyblade in his hand at Sora.

At that moment, a bright spark of light shined from where Sora's heart was, causing Sora to feel a sudden rush of pain through his body and making him fall on all fours while clutching his heart which was now hurting.

"Sora!" Lucille and Donald cried out in panic. Lucille bent down to her brother's level with a look of concern on his face.

"What's-" Sora asked in confusion.

"Oh my stars...All this time, my hunch was right from the very start," Chi whispered quietly in realization.

"What hunch? Wait, are you talking about what you said long ago back when we first met in Traverse Town?!" Florian gasped as he recalled.

Chi simply nodded. "There's no doubting it now. The answer was right in front of us all this time."

"Don't you all see yet? The Princess's heart is responding. It has been there all along. Kairi's heart rests within you."

"Kairi's...Kairi's inside me?"

"Kairi's heart...it went inside Sora? But that means..." Lucille allowed the fact to sink in before her face went red. "Wow, Kairi...I think I underestimated how much you cared about my brother," She quietly said to herself.

"So that's where she was hiding all this time. If ya think about it, there's no better safe haven than the heart of another," Oswald clicked.

"Furball, how long did you know this? Why didn't you tell anyone?" Zen glared.

"H-Hey! I didn't know for certain either! I just had a hunch that's what happened! I could have been wrong for all I knew!" Chi panicked.

"I know all that there is to know."

"Tell me. Who are you?" Although in pain, Sora still managed to get that question out.

"It is I, Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness."

"You're not my father, you delusional weirdo," Aster reminded in frustration.

'Ansem' ignored Aster and approached where Sora and Lucille were.

"Waaak!" Donald bravely stood in the way between the Seeker and his friends just as the others were about to follow Donald's idea.

"You are beginning to become an eyesore, you wretches. Disappear." With a powerful wide-spread wave of darkness, everyone besides Sora and Lucille were pushed out of the platform and through the invisible barrier that had kept Goofy out.

"Oh, hey there, fellas. So that's where ya guys were." Goofy waved to them.

"This isn't the time, Goofy. We need to get back in there! Sora and his sister are in danger!" Donald cried out and tried to charge the barrier only to get electrocuted by it. "Waaaaaakkkk!" He fell to the floor as a black charred heap. "Ow."

"Donald! Are you okay?!" Florian proceeded to try and heal the poor royal magician as soon as possible of his burns.

"Damn it, we need to get back in there!" Zen tried to use his claw on the barrier, but the jolt of electricity made him pull it back. "Geez, not even this thing can make a dent on it?"

Meanwhile back inside, with now only Sora, Lucille and this Seeker...this 'Ansem' who was possessing Riku's body, the Seeker had a triumphant look on his face while facing the keyblade towards them.

"So, I shall release you now, Princess. Complete the keyhole with your power. Open the door, lead me into everlasting darkness!"

But just before he could raise his keyblade, Lucille quickly got up and stood between him and Sora.

"Sis?!"

"Out of the way, girl. Are you truly going to risk your heart for this boy? Don't you want to see your best friend again?"

"Of course I do. More than anything," Lucille answered. "There's no way I'm letting you hurt my brother, though. I know for a fact that Kairi would never want that either. You'll have to get pass my cold dead body first."

"Hmph, so is the so-called bond between twins...an interesting power indeed. The foreteller should have chosen a less foolish child, but it is of no importance to me. I had wanted only the hearts of the foretellers anyway, so you're just making my job easier."

"Lucille, no!"

Lucille stood firm even though she was terrified of what awaited her. 'I'm sorry...that I wasn't strong enough to help you, Riku.'

"Sora! You're both in danger, so get up!" Lucille heard a familiar voice call out. She recognized it almost instantly. 'Kairi?!'

Before Lucille could react, she was moved aside by a force from behind and heard the clash of two keyblades colliding and screeching their blades against each other.

"Forget it. There's no way you're taking Kairi or my sister's heart!" Sora's eyes flashed dangerously at the Seeker and threw him back with his own keyblade with one strong push.

"Sora...? Wait, did you just push me? What kind of brother are you?!"

Sora turned to his sister and laughed nervously. "Heh heh, sorry. Knowing how stubborn you are, though, you wouldn't have moved unless I made you move." He then outstretched his arm to his sister. "Let's get Riku back together."

Lucille blinked before smiling and taking hold of her brother's hand. "Now that's a plan I can get behind."

What took all three of them by surprise was when another voice called out just before they were about fight the Seeker.

"Binding chains!" Multiple pieces of paper circled around the Seeker of Darkness, turning into chains that trapped the Seeker within them.

"Florian?"

"I'll explain later! Lucille, use the Lux Arma. It should push the Seeker out of Riku's body," Florian quickly replied while trying to keep his hold on his captive who was trying to break his arte.

"It can do that?" Lucille blinked before recalling a conversation they had long ago. "Oh, that's right! It's a weapon of light that repels all forms of darkness." Lucille nodded and summoned the Lux Arma into her hand.

Florian was unable to hold the Seeker down any longer, and his seraphic arte broke, the chains falling apart.

Seeming to sense that trying to fight two people at once alone was a waste of energy, he jumped back and summoned a portal of darkness that he seeped through.

"Hey, get back here! Give back Riku!" Sora tried to run towards him but couldn't reach the portal in time before it closed in front of him.

"I'm sorry, he got away with Riku's body," Florian apologized.

Sora shook his head. "It's not your fault. But why did he run away?" Sora wondered.

"Yeah, not sure I like this." Lucille frowned. This seemed too easy. That Seeker was up to something.

With the Seeker's disappearance, the barrier that blocked off the rest of their friends vanished just as Donald and Goofy were about to try and break it down again, only to fall flat on their faces.

"Guess the barrier couldn't stay up without its caster nearby," Oswald noted.

"Are you all okay?" Ion asked in concern for the trio.

Lucille nodded. "We're fine. But...I'm a little worried as to why that 'Ansem' wannabe Seeker ran off."

"Yes, that is very unusual. He hadn't been able to finish the keyhole and undo the seal...but...the seal has taken some very heavy damage, and I no longer have enough power to renew it in time before it breaks down on its own."

"So there's nothing we can do?" Aster asked.

"There...is one thing. To preserve this world from the Heartless and the encroaching darkness, the only remaining option is to close off the keyhole for good by using the power of the Keyblade. Thankfully, we have two among us." Ion directing his gaze to both Sora and Oswald.

"Wait...I'm confused. I thought there was only one Keyblade." Sora glanced at Oswald's keyblade with a puzzled look.

"It's complicated, kid. Looks like there's been some misunderstanding about the keyblade and it's 'masters'." Oswald scratched his head, unsure how to explain this to Sora.

"..." Zen crossed his arms as if thinking deeply about something.

"Zen, what's wrong?" Lucille turned to ask.

"Something's not right. Why would Ion suggest sealing the keyhole of this world for good? If the keyhole is sealed, that means Ion can't be its guardian anymore."

"..." Florian gave it some thought before gasping. "Wait! Lord Ion couldn't possibly be-!"

"Sora! Sora, look!" Donald's voice interrupted Florian's sentence, making them all to face the giant heart-shaped gateway that was currently being protected by Ion's arte, although it seemed it was barely standing.

"The...The keyhole!"

"Alright, I will remove the seal arte now, so you'll be able to use your keyblade to do what must be done. We'll only have a limited amount of time before the Heartless become aware that the seal is gone, so please act fast." Ion nodded and, with a wave of his hand, the arte shattered like glass and faded into shards of light that crumbled down just before the steps.

Sora walked a few steps forward and pointed his keyblade towards the keyhole, but nothing was happening.

"It won't work! The keyhole's not finished yet!"

"What can we do?" Sora questioned.

"Maybe we gotta go wake Kairi up," Goofy suggested.

"I think you're right. If we can free her heart...but how...?"

"Hmm...that's a toughie. How do you extract another person's heart without killing the host?" Oswald pondered.

"Hey, earn your keep, Foreteller. You're freeloading in my head, so make yourself useful and help us," Zen called out to Gula.

 _"Technically I'm a part of your heart, not your head,"_ Gula corrected before adding, _"And I'm not free-loading!"_

Lucille blinked. "Zen? Who was that?"

It was Zen's turn to look surprised. "Hold on, you can hear this guy?"

"Yeah, I don't see him, but I can definitely hear a voice."

 _"That's Gula, one of the other Foretellers that I told you about. He has been inside Zen's heart the whole time, the same way I am with you,"_ Ava told her.

"And you didn't mention this at all?!"

 _"Would you believe us if we did?"_ Gula countered.

"...Whatever, just answer the question," Zen growled.

 _"Extracting the heart with a keyblade sounds like a terrible idea. This is just a theory, but if one calls out to the heart sleeping within and wakes them, they will return naturally of their own volition,"_ Gula explained in a matter-of-fact way.

"...Um...so we just ask Kairi to wake up from inside my brother's heart? That's kinda freaky," Lucille crossed her arms and summarized.

 _"It's worth a shot. Like Gula said, using a keyblade would not be a good idea. It could result in both hearts being released instead of one,"_ Ava added.

"That's a good point." Zen saw the reason in their logic.

"Whoa, hold on here! Aren't you guys going to question Ion's intentions here at all?" Moira pointed out loudly, shifting their current train of thought onto a new one.

"His...intentions...?" Aster repeated. It suddenly dawned on him what sealing the keyhole for good would mean for Ion. "Ion! Are you serious?! You'll lose your vessel if you allow the keyhole to be locked!"

"Wait...What are they talking about, Ion?" Zen's eyes widened in horror.

"...Why did you have to go and tell them that?" Ion sighed.

"Hey, it's not cool to try and hide something this important from them, even if it was to protect them from the pain of the truth." Moira placed her hands behind her head.

"Lord Ion, wait, it doesn't need to end that way. We can still save you! Lord Yggdrasil told me-" Florian tried to explain.

"Lord Yggdrasil...that's a name I haven't heard in a long time. As much as I wish there was a way to wash away the darkness, it's too late now for me to turn back. With the sealing arte now gone, this world only has a limited period of time before the Heartless in the Realm of Darkness stir and become aware that the heart of this world is theirs for the taking."

"And besides, look at me, the darkness has twisted and warped my body almost beyond recognition. Slowly but surely, I feel the last pieces of what remains of me fading as well."

"Wait...what?"

"Zen...you can't tell because you can't see Seraphim anymore, but...ten years has really worn Ion down. His body's been corrupted and it's starting to resemble a heartless." Aster was hesitant but decided to confess what he had intended to keep a secret.

Zen looked horrified and turned to Ion. "C'mon, don't look at me like that," Ion implored, smiling sadly. "I thought that it would be better if you, Aster and Kairi never saw this new hideous form of mine. But...I'm actually really happy that I got to see you three again before...well you know."

"Don't talk like that! I didn't fight all this time, finding some way to save you from your suffering, just for it to end like this!"

"I know. Lucille told me. Thank you for always believing in me for all these ten years. You three were always in my thoughts as I stayed here to protect this world from those who would see it plunge into darkness. Because of that, I was able to find the strength to resist the temptations of the dark for so long. However...it's a struggle now to keep the darkness that's been growing inside me from overflowing."

"Before that happens, I'm begging you-please save this world. This is a world that I have cherished and sworn to protect-even if no one remembers or knew I existed, even if I don't even know myself anymore. I want to fade away, knowing that this world is in good hands and won't repeat the same mistakes."

"Ion...Why...You're basically telling us to kill you! How can you ask that of us?" Zen clenched his fists in frustration.

"Zen, please."

"But Lord Ion..." Florian knew what he had to say but he couldn't get the words out or know how to express it into words.

Meanwhile, Sora was trying to think of some way to free Kairi and give her heart back to her. That was when his eyes were drawn to the fallen dark keyblade. He was surprised that guy who was controlling Riku had forgotten it. That was when an idea clicked.

"A Keyblade that unlocks people's hearts...I wonder." Sora gave it some thought before deciding what he knew had to be done to free Kairi.

"...Sora?" Goofy asked with a confused look as he saw Sora walk across the platform right to where Chi was glaring at the keyblade.

"Such a terrifying twisted weapon. Where should I discard this? Maybe throw it into the water outside?" Chi wondered, unsure how to grab the keyblade with her tiny paws. That was when she noticed Sora had picked it up.

"Please, Sora. Be careful with that thing, it's very dangerous," Chi warned the brunette boy. Sora looked to the Chirithy with a smile. "Chi, keep watching over Lucille, okay?"

It only dawned on her a few seconds afterwards what he had planned to do. "Wait! There must be another way!"

It seemed that Chi was not the only one who realized what Sora had planned to do. "Sora! Hold on!" Goofy cried out in panic.

"No, wait!" Donald also chimed afterwards.

Lucille turned around after hearing the distress, seeing her brother holding the keyblade that had previously belonged to that 'imposter'. For some reason, dread and a hint of fear brewed up in her, "Wait, what do you plan to do with that, Sora?"

Sora turned around keyblade upright before giving his trademark smile that he was known for. "Guys, take care of Kairi and my sister for me. I know you'll protect them."

"What the? Sora, don't do it!" Oswald was horrified when he had clicked what was going to happen.

 _"Oh no! Someone needs to stop him! He plans to use that keyblade on himself to free Kairi's heart!"_ Ava panicked.

"Sora, no!" Lucille began to run over.

It was too late, though. With no more hesitation, Sora turned the dark keyblade towards himself and plunged it into his heart.

Light began to glow and fill up the room as the keyblade fell to the ground once more, only this time to disappear. In its place,six lights were freed from their prison within the dark keyblade. The six lights floated in the air and proceeded to return to their rightful owners, the six princesses who were slumbering in the small chambers that held them.

Another light soon appeared, leaving Sora's body and floating towards Kairi's unmoving body. Once it was near enough, it gently planted itself inside Kairi's body, allowing her to finally, but slowly, open her eyes after what seemed like an eternity of sleep.

Sora's body glowed in a warm light as he smiled softly, knowing Kairi was finally awake and saved. He very soon lost all consciousness and awareness as his heart was also freed from his body. No one seemed to have noticed that the keyhole had also finally been completed now that the seal was no longer present, and all seven princesses had their hearts returned.

"Sora! Sora!" Lucille was now sprinting, trying to reach Sora before he disappeared completely.

Kairi slowly sat up and saw what was happening to Sora as well, thinking along the same lines as Lucille. She quickly stood up and tried to reach out to him as well. "Sora!"

But as the two girls reached him, he had dispersed into sparkles of light. Both of them looked upwards as they saw those lights lift up into the air before disappearing completely.

"Sora! Come back, Sora!" Donald demanded as the last of those lights disappeared.

* * *

 _"What's...what's happening to me? Falling...falling...into darkness."_

 _"Can you hear me...Sora?"_

* * *

Oh my god...I finally...finally...FINALLY got this chapter done! Whooo! XD

Seriously though, I must humbly apologize for the incredibly long wait. This chapter had taken much longer than I intended. I wanted to get this chapter right, though, so I had to go through a lot of rewriting and revising, then I ended up getting distracted by other things. XD

But finally managed to get it done in the end! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and again, I'm sorry for the very long wait I put everyone through. I hope that you continue to read and enjoy the story.

Also, remember when I said this would be the last chapter for the Hallow Bastion Arc? Well surprise, you get two more chapters for this arc. XD Only because I felt I didn't want to make this chapter longer than it already is.

So until the next chapter, please have a good day and happy reading, folks! Moogle Empress out!

Moogle: Kupo!


	20. Episode 19: Ray Of Hope

Hey there, I bring to you Episode 19. This one flowed out much easier than the previous one, so I hope that you enjoy it. The next chapter after this one will offically be the last of the Hallow Bastion arc. After that it's full-on end game, folks! XD

Then I can start really working on the COM one. I've already gotten an idea of what I want to do when we get to COM. It'll separate it from the game counterpart somewhat, not too much.

I've already got a rough idea for the remaining three successors for Invi, Ira and Aced, too. Especially Ira and Aced. =D

But they probably won't be making an official appearance until probably in the KH Days arc. Which I plan to do after the COM arc since, in the timeline of the game, those two games are not that far apart from each other. But we'll see, we gotta get KH's 1 arc done first. XD

I'd like to go over a few reviewer comments from last chapter to answer some questions.

Guest: As you had rightly pointed out in the last chapter, I accidently left something that was from a previous draft I did for that chapter. Oops. XD

As I mentioned, the chapter went through a lot of redos and revisions to get it right. I must have forgotten to remove that particular line about Lucille's keyblade, which was a part of a previous draft I had done. Anyway, I have removed it from the chapter now so it should no longer be there and corrected to match the current chapter's narrative.

I apologize for overlooking a detail like that. Must have overlooked it in my final rush to finally get the chapter done. I'll try to keep an eye out for similar mistakes in the future. Thank you for bringing it to my attention so I could alter and remove it so it doesn't confuse the story. Good thing I still had the chapter in Doc manager. =D

Anyway, with that done, please enjoy Episode 19! \o/

* * *

 **Episode 19: Ray Of Hope**

* * *

 _ **Last Episode** _

_"What's...what's happening to me? Falling...falling...into darkness."_

 _"Can you hear me...Sora?"_

* * *

A deafening silence filled the room. No one uttered a word, overwhelmed by shock at what had just happened.

"Sora, are you really-" Kairi started to question.

"No, this isn't real. It can't be. Tell me you're still here, Sora! Sora, answer me, please!" Lucille called out, hoping for an answer from her twin, but she heard nothing.

 _"Lucille...I'm so sorry..."_ Ava could only offer small comfort. Lucille felt her heart being torn, but she couldn't mourn-not yet, she had to protect Kairi.

"No. He can't be! I won't let him go!" Kairi shook her head, putting her faith in the nigh impossible chance of Sora still being there.

"Lucille...Miss Kairi..." Florian didn't know how he could help. He felt useless in this situation.

"So, you have awakened at last, Princess."

Chi then gasped, alerting everyone over the new arrival. "Everyone, look out!"

They all turned to see someone who only Aster, Zen, Ion and Oswald would remember-in appearance anyway. He had dark skin, orange eyes that glowed with evil intent and silver hair that ran down to his waist. He wore a dark researcher coat with the Heartless emblem in front and white boots.

"What the? Wait, aren't you that one researcher guy who was in cahoots with Maleficent and did all those horrible experiments on people's hearts?" Oswald asked.

The man ignored the rabbit and continued with his speech, "The keyhole is now complete. You have served your purpose. But now it's over." He then took a few steps forward, putting everyone on edge.

"Don't even think about it! It's bad enough that you took Sora away, but there's no way I'm letting you touch Kairi! Not after searching for her all this time!" Lucille gritted her teeth and quickly armed herself with the Lux Arma.

"Lu, no, don't put yourself in danger like this!" Kairi shook her head.

Lucille smiled softly. "You dummy, you don't need a reason to help friends, especially close ones."

"Island girl is right. Besides, that would be making Sora's sacrifice in vain. No way I'm running from this coward," Zen agreed.

"Don't make another move!"

"Do ya think we can stop him all by ourselves?" Goofy asked.

"I don't know!"

"Oh c'mon, think positive, duck!" Oswald rolled his eyes.

To everyone's surprise, the man had stopped moving, sparking confusion.

"Don't tell me that-?" Moira guessed.

"Impossible..."

A light formed in front of where the man stood. It soon became obvious who that light was.

"No...You won't use me for this!"

Kairi and Lucille gasped. "Riku!"

"I knew it. Well, this just went from bad to worse. That imposter had just implanted himself pretty firmly in his heart. It's going to be tough to banish him with just the keyblades alone," Moira sighed.

"Can't you **ever** give us good news?" Zen glared.

Moira threw her hands in the air in frustration, "I said it was gonna be tough. I didn't say it was impossible!"

"You've got to run! The Heartless are coming!" Riku warned.

As if on cue, numerous Heartless began to spawn from the ground.

"Holy cow! Look at all the Heartless!" Oswald jumped from the huge increase in numbers.

"You need to do as he said. This place is going to be crawling with Heartless soon. There's something I still need to do as guardian of this place, even if I'm no longer worthy of that title. I'll keep the core safe for what little power and time I have left. You guys need to get out of here. I know you'll be back-I know you too well by now."

"Ion, you can't stay here. You'll end up-" Aster shook his head.

"I know. I'm okay. This is my choice. When you guys return, I...will no longer be myself anymore, so when you next see me...just...end me," Ion told them.

"Ion, no. I refuse to do that! And we're not leaving you!"

"Yes you are-all of you are. You have to live and survive," Ion countered. With that, he casted a seraphic arte that would transport all of them back to the foyer.

"No wait! ION!" Zen tried to outstretch the bandaged arm that held his Heartless claw.

Ion smiled sadly. "Please forgive me for being so selfish, but this has to be done, for everyone's sake."

With that, the arte sent them all away, leaving just Ion, Riku and the Heartless that was still trying to reign control back.

"Why...did you stay?" Riku asked, although he could barely keep control over his body, wrestling with the man who called himself 'Ansem'.

"Isn't it obvious? This is my duty, no matter how much I want things to be different. This...was an inevitable fate for me. However, there's things I can still do to help others to spare them from the same fate. Just like how I'm going to help you right now."

"Ha, and what can you possibly do? You can barely keep yourself together. You'll soon become a part of the darkness just like everything else will," Ansem mocked.

"Shut up, I'm talking to Riku, not you, imposter." Ion glared dangerously at the Heartless before turning a concerned look at the vision of Riku before him.

"Riku, I won't sugar-coat this-you're very close to having your heart eclipsed by this Heartless. I can't remove him from you, but I can save you from being completely consumed. You need to trust me though. I know you don't like my kind. You've voiced that opinion more than enough times, but for this to work, I need your trust," Ion told him bluntly.

"...And you'd still help me knowing that?" Riku felt guilty. It was true that he'd believed Maleficent's words about the Seraphim, but now...? Was she wrong about them like everything else she'd ever lied about to him?

Ion chuckled. "Of course, I'd be a terrible guardian if I allowed such a petty thing like that to stop me. Besides, you had good intentions. You just went about it the wrong way." He then grew serious again. "But I ask you now, do you trust me?"

Riku was starting to lose the tug of war with 'Ansem' over the control of his body. "If I trust you, I want you to do one last thing. I know it's asking too much but-"

"You want me to help Sora, right? You want to save him." Ion smiled.

"How...did you-?"

"I could tell that you never hated Sora. Not at all, but you were blinded by the darkness in your heart and believed too deeply in the lies Maleficient weaved to control you to see the truth, though."

"Huh, you're a lot more observant than you let on." Riku gave a derisive laugh.

"I have spent far too long in the darkness not to understand how it works and how it takes advantage of us. Thank you for trusting me, Riku. I'm confident that this will help you. And don't worry, there's already someone there to help guide Sora back. He's been with him far longer than anyone else. You'll see him again. I can promise you that."

"Thank you," Riku could barely say before he lost consciousness. The last thing he saw was Ion casting some kind of seraphic arte on him.

* * *

Meanwhile, Lucille and what remained of their group found themselves back in the foyer, just like Ion's arte had intended.

"Just what was that guy thinking? What does he plan to do by himself? He's already worn himself down to the bone as it is, so there's no way he can take on all those heartless by himself," Oswald commented.

"We've got to go back! We can't just leave both Riku and Sora here! And what about that other boy? I don't know why but...I know him from somewhere..." Kairi told them.

"Kairi's right, I refuse to leave our friends behind like this!" Lucille agreed.

"I understand where ya comin' from ladies but..." Goofy tried to reason.

"We can't stay here! This place is gonna get overrun with Heartless!" Donald quacked.

"Hate to say it, but the duck is right. This is not the time to be reckless. We need to regroup and rework our plan. There's still that keyhole we gotta lock up. It was Ion's request to us and, as a Keyblade Master, I have a duty to see that through."

"A Heartless is after us!" Goofy pointed out. At the top of the foyer's staircase, they could see one lone Heartless.

"Just one? That's weird. I was expecting more." Moira crossed her arms.

Kairi and Lucille looked at each other with confused looks.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it!" Donald boldly stated.

As the Heartless got closer, Lucille oddly felt something...familiar about it, and it seemed Kairi had the same idea.

"Lu, could that...?"

Lucille looked at Kairi and nodded. "Yeah, I don't know why...but my heart tells me that it is."

Once the Heartless was mere inches away, Donald lightly tapped it with his staff. "Confounded Heartless! Get lost, will ya?"

"Something's odd about this Heartless. It's strangely docile. Be careful, Lady Lucille," Chi warned.

"Sora...? Is that you?" Kairi gazed deeply into the yellow beady eyes of the Heartless before them.

"Wait, WHAT?" Aster looked astonished at his little sister's response.

"Sora, that is you, isn't it?" Lucille also asked with a hopeful tone.

"Not you too," Zen groaned.

 _"No wait, I think they might be right. This could be...This might actually be Sora. It would explain the Heartless' unusual docile nature right now,"_ Ava chimed in.

 _"Ava's got a point. This Heartless seems different from all the others we've seen,"_ Gula agreed with Ava's hunch.

"If it attacks either of them, I'm ending that thing with my own claw," Zen warned them both. More Heartless sprang up from below-too many for them to keep an eye on.

"This is bad. There's too many of them!"

"This time, I'll protect you," Kairi boldly stated, acting as a shield in front of the docile Heartless.

The Heartless slowly edged their way forward before jumping to lunge on top of both Kairi and the small Heartless.

"Sora!" Kairi turned around to hug the small Heartless to herself in an attempt to shield it from the Heartless.

"No! Kairi! Sora!" Lucille panicked when she saw a dome of darkness sprang out.

"Wak! Oh no!"

Lucille was about to use the Lux Arma on it before Zen stopped her. "Wait, if that Heartless really is who you think it is, you might hurt him with that thing. It repels the darkness, remember?"

"But I have to do something! Kairi! Sora!" Lucille tried calling out to them, trying to punch her way inside.

* * *

Sora felt himself float in the darkness, falling deeper and deeper into a sleep he wouldn't be able to wake up from. Little by little, he started to forget things-his friends, his home, even his own identity.

"Can you hear me...Sora?" A voice brought him out of his sleep, opening his eyes to find himself in a void of darkness, with a single aura of light radiating from in front of him.

It was dimmed and faded, as if it had fought a long and lonely battle to remain afloat in the dark. It took the form of a blonde-haired boy. Sora could feel a sense of familiarity, but he could not place from where.

"Who...are you? I feel like I know you but..."

"We met a long time ago, but my name is not important. You probably don't feel any time has passed, but right now, it has not been long since you freed Kairi's heart from your own. That resulted in your heart being freed as well. You're drifting in-between the Realm of Darkness and Light."

"The Realm...of Darkness?"

"The reason you are stuck here in limbo...Well...this isn't your time to come here yet, Sora. There's still much that only you can do and people that only you can save. The fact that you have not succumbed completely to darkness is proof of that," The boy explained calmly.

"Sora...? That's my name, right?"

"Yup. There are people who miss you terribly. Can't you hear their voices?" The blonde-haired boy gently took a hold of Sora's hands and closed his eyes. "Sora, focus your thoughts. Your heart has so many connections to other hearts that you'll be able to hear them reach out to you. Close your eyes and concentrate your thoughts on them. Feel their hope, feel their strength that they are giving you."

Sora was unsure what this strange boy was going on about, but for some reason, he knew he could be trusted. So he did as he instructed. He concentrated on trying to hear for any voices. Much to his surprise, there were many voices-so many hearts that had made connections to his own, giving him back memories that he had felt being chipped away from him.

"I can hear them! There's...three voices calling out right now for me. They want me to come back."

The blonde boy smiled and nodded.

"Sora!"

Sora turned his head upwards. "That's Kairi's voice!"

"But I have to do something! Sora! Kairi!"

"And that's my sister!"

"So you know what you have to do, don't you? It's time to wake up. You don't want to keep your sister and girlfriend waiting, right?"

"Wait, what?!"

"Heh, sorry, that was a white lie, but you feel strongly for that one girl, right? Isn't that enough reason alone to go back? Follow the light. It'll take you back to where you're meant to be."

Sora saw a bright light above that seemed to act like a ray of hope, reaching out to save him from the void of darkness.

"Wait, come with me! I don't know who you are, but I can't leave you here!"

The boy shook his head. "I can't leave, but don't worry. I'm always by your side." The boy softly poked a finger to where Sora's heart would be, "I'll always be right there with you. I know that someday you'll find a way to wake me too, but now's not that time."

"Thank you..."

The boy shook his head. "What do you mean? I'm the one who should be thanking you. You were the one who saved me first. When my heart was falling to pieces, you gave me a part of you that saved and salvaged me from the darkness that would have swallowed me up. This is only me returning the favor." He smiled brightly.

"Huh?"

"Heh, doofus. You'll understand someday," He cryptically finished before the light started to pull Sora upwards.

The blonde boy smiled sadly but still felt hopeful. "Terra...Aqua...I hope that we'll be able to gaze at the same sky together again soon. That's my most cherished wish. You feel the same way too, right Medea?"

* * *

The next thing everyone knew, a bright light engulfed the whole room, banishing every Heartless from the room that was present. When the light faded, they saw a familar face hugging Kairi.

"Kairi...thank you."

"Sora!" Kairi was shocked but at the same time overjoyed.

Lucille couldn't believe her eyes. A mixture of feelings stormed through her, unsure how to process what she was seeing.

"Geez kid, you never cease to surprise me." Oswald smiled. "Good to have ya back."

"Heh heh...hi?"

"Don't you 'Hi' us! What kind of crazy stunt was that?!" Donald argued.

"Aw, deep down ya know you're glad he's back, Donald." Goofy chuckled.

"Aw phooey, just don't do something so crazy again. You made us all worry about you for nothing!" Donald huffed.

Lucille approached Sora and whacked him on the head.

"Ow, what was that for?!" Sora glared at first, but it softened when he realized that Lucille's cheeks were wet. Was...Lucille crying? Over him?

She then hugged her brother tightly, as if she feared he would disappear on her again. "Sis?"

"Sora...you stupid...stupid idiot. Look at me, I'm crying! Are you satisfied?! Don't you ever pull such a reckless act like that again! I thought...I thought I lost you forever..." She sobbed.

"Lucille...I'm sorry, Sis...It was the only thing I could think of..."

She sniffed but forced herself to pull away to dry her eyes. "You...really scared me back there, you dummy."

Their reunion was cut short, though, when more Heartless started to spawn out from the ground.

"Ah c'mon, we're having a moment here!" Oswald cried out in frustration.

They then heard a beastial roar coming from the hallway they just came from. To their surprise, they saw Beast, who had jumped down from the foyer's staircase to swipe away at the Heartless.

"Go! Now!" He roared to them.

"Come with us!"

"I told you before, I'm not leaving without Belle," Beast reminded.

"Oh no! We forgot about the Princesses! Will they be okay?! We can't let their hearts be taken away again!" Chi panicked.

"Leave their protection to me. Now, go! The Heartless are coming!" Beast reassured.

"Alright. Let's get out of here." Sora turned to the others.

"But...what about Riku? And Ion? We can't leave them here either," Lucille asked.

"Riku's been sent somewhere else. I felt a Seraphic Arte not long ago from above us. I think it was Lord Ion's magic," Florian informed.

"Sent somewhere else?" Sora repeated in confusion.

"And Ion? What happened to him?" Aster asked.

"I don't know. I...can't sense him anymore." Florian shook his head.

"..." Zen was hesitant to leave, not when their friend was in such a critical state.

 _"I know how you feel, Zen. But to charge in now would be suicide. Ion probably used what little power he had left to bring us all to the foyer. Don't waste his kindness,"_ Gula told him.

 _'I know that. Doesn't mean I have to like it,'_ Zen shot back.

They all rushed out to the exit of the castle. As they made it outside, they saw...quite an unexpected sight.

"There ya kids are! Took some time but we finally managed to get here. We're ready to kick some Heartless butt," Cid greeted. Leon, Yuffie, Aerith and even Luma was with him.

"Everyone, you're all okay! I'm so relieved!" Luma sighed in relief.

"Luma! You shouldn't be here, you're hurt!" Sora was surprised to see the Seraph girl with them, even though she still had cracks on her doll-like body.

"But I had to come. I was so worried about everyone, especially Aster and Lucille."

"Change of plans, everyone. We need to go," Zen quickly told them.

"WHAT?! But we just got here!" Yuffie cried out.

"Um, hey, sorry to interrupt, but we need to get out of this world before we're all very dead. The Heartless are spawning out of the ground like rabbits!" Moira reminded them all as she pointed to the number of Heartless that were starting to spawn even just at the entrance of the castle.

"Hey, I take offense to that!" Oswald was insulted by that remark.

"Save that for later, rabbit!" Zen grabbed Oswald as they ran away from the castle towards the Gummi Ships.

Once they entered their vessels, they didn't waste any time to fire them up and leave the world of Hallow Bastion, or as it was formerly known as-Radiant Garden, behind them, with its fate still left undecided.

* * *

They found themselves back in Traverse Town quicker than they imagined. When they landed, they decided to go to the small house in the 2nd District so they could talk about their next plan of action.

Moira departed when they reached the small house, saying she needed to report back to Master Matoya about what had happened at Hallow Bastion.

After retelling the whole adventure inside Hallow Bastion, as well as getting a rant from Aster about hiding secrets and the truth about his royal lineage from him, they were brought up to speed.

"So, the darkness is flowing out of that keyhole," Leon summarized as he leaned against the wall of the house.

"No wonder there are more and more Heartless everywhere. The only way to stop them is-," Aerith added.

"Seal the keyhole, right?"

"Maybe. But no one knows what will happen once it's sealed," Leon warned.

"The only one who knows that would be Ion but..." Oswald frowned.

"Well, we can't just stay here. We have to do something. I've got a friend back there!"

"That's right. You have one more friend to worry about. Riku's keyblade must have been born of the captive princesses' hearts-just like that Keyhole you saw," Leon responded, not leaving his spot.

"That's true. Originally, only the Seraphim and keyblade wielders could see them, so that Heartless must have done something to make it take physical form," Florian noted.

"You think that's why that keyblade was created? The one Riku had?" Lucille asked.

Florian nodded. "I felt something very wrong with that keyblade the moment I saw it. It felt unnatural and full of malice. It must have been made to act as a prison for the Princesses' hearts to stop them from escaping."

"One thing's for certain, though-they couldn't complete that keyhole without Kairi's heart," Oswald added.

"Of course, without Kairi's heart, it remained incomplete. Once that keyblade was destroyed, the princesses' hearts should have been freed. Don't worry, Sora. If anyone can save your friend, you can," Leon told Sora.

"Riku...I hope he's okay. I feel terrible for leaving him behind. It's true he did a lot of stupid things, but...he was just misguided and lost. I really should have tried better to help him." Lucille looked guilty.

Kairi gently took Lucille's hands into hers and smiled at her. "Riku will be okay. He's got a strong heart. He wouldn't let something like this stop him."

Lucille smiled softly back. She was so happy to see her best friend again. "I'm so sorry, Kairi...The reason you ended up losing your heart in the first place was because-" Lucille was stopped midway when Kairi lightly knocked her on the head. "Ow! Don't do that, Kai!" She cried out, easing her poor head.

"Well, don't say stupid things like that. That wasn't your fault. It's no one's fault. I wanted to protect you, so I choose to do that. That's all there is to it." Kairi huffed. "Besides, I know you would have done the exact same thing if our roles had been reversed, and what was I going to tell Sora if anything happened to you?" She then added with a victorious smile.

"...Touche, Kairi, Touche." Lucille sighed in defeat.

"I've been meaning to ask-who's the little girl that's always near Aster?" Kairi wondered.

"Oh, that's Luma. She's a Seraph like Florian, but she's...a special case since that body she's using is actually man-made," Lucille answered.

"Oh, I see." Kairi glanced at Luma who was gently gripping on to Aster's pants and hid behind him.

"Don't be shy. Kairi's my little sister. She's very nice." Aster gently nudged Luma.

"Hello." Luma gave a quiet and shy response.

"Don't worry, she'll warm up to you. She's just shy around strangers she doesn't know," Aster reassured her.

"You're...my older brother, right? My memories are still a little foggy, but I do remember you," Kairi stated with a gentle smile.

"Wait, they're siblings?!" Sora blinked back and forth between Aster and Kairi.

"Wow, quick on the uptake, huh?" Lucille face-palmed at her brother's slow realization of this.

"Now that ya mention it, they do look an awful lot similar to each other, don't ya think?" Goofy picked up.

Aster smiled sadly. "I am. Don't push your memory too hard just to try and force yourself to remember. Trust me, I spent the last ten years doing that with no results until I got kidnapped. Go figure."

"Hee hee. I'm thankful for all you did for Lucille and her friends. She told me what a good friend you are." Kairi laughed softly.

"Oh, she did, huh?" Aster turned to Lucille who just winked and gave a thumbs-up at him.

"I know you'll be a great ruler someday. Call it a sister's hunch," Kairi confidently told him. While it's true they had spent most of their childhood apart from each other, Kairi could still feel the sense of familiarity and security she had with him that she felt in the past with her Grandmother or rather their Grandmother. It'd take some time to get use to calling Aster her brother and it would probably be likewise with Aster, but their bond was not something so easily broken and could be mended over time.

"Thanks, Sis." Aster smiled back.

"You know, I thought the keyhole would strengthen the darkness. I mean, the darkness is strong, but still...it's almost like someone's holding it back," Aerith noted.

"Ion...you're pushing yourself too far." Aster frowned in concern.

"Lord Ion will be okay, won't he Aster? He lasted this long against the darkness, so he'll be able to overcome this, right?" Luma asked.

"I hope so, Luma. I really do."

Luma looked over to Kairi, being a little hesitant at first but deciding to approach. "You're...Princess Kairi, right?"

Kairi turned, bending down to greet the snow-haired girl with a kind smile. "I'm not sure about the Princess part still but yes, I'm Kairi. You must be Luma. I heard that you are a very brave little girl who tried to protect Aster. Thank you for trying."

Luma blushed faintly at the praise.

"It's likely that the Princesses of Hearts are still back in that world, and we need to seal that keyhole as soon as possible. We need to think of a plan of attack before heading back there," Oswald told them. It was around then that Oswald noticed someone was missing. "Hey, where did Zen go?"

"Oh, he left a little while ago. He said he needed some time to think alone. I was going to argue against that but...with everything that happened, I didn't have the heart to say anything," Aster answered.

"I'll go find him. Let us know when we're going back to that world," Lucille told them as she headed for the door, Florian following her lead.

"I'll go with you, Lady Lucille!" Chi added as she ran up to Lucille. Lucille picked up the small Dream Eater in her arms to carry her. "Sure, we'll go together. See you guys in a bit." She then turned to wave.

"Be careful out there. The Heartless are stronger than before," Leon warned.

Lucille nodded and opened the door before closing it behind her.

* * *

She wasn't sure where to find Zen. As she looked around, she saw that there was someone sitting on the roof of Gizmo's bell tower.

"Do you think he's up there?" Lucille asked out loud mainly to herself.

 _"I can feel Gula up there, so I'm sure it's Zen,"_ Ava confirmed.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that guy. He's one of your friends, right?" Lucille asked Ava.

 _"Yes, out of the five of us, Gula and I were the closest. He's always been the kind of guy who would keep a distance from everyone. No matter how hard I tried to get him to open up a little more, he always kept his most inner thoughts to himself. I always wondered why, but...it now makes sense. He was trying to find the traitor among us, so he couldn't get attached to us in case it was true. I wish I had tried harder to reach out. He must have felt so alone,"_ Ava explained.

"Ava..."

"To think that Master Ava was with you the whole time, Lady Lucille. I'm still overwhelmed by the news." Chi still was shocked by the news that her former Master was still alive. "That explains why I hadn't disappeared yet. Master Ava still lives because you saved her. That, in turn, saved my own life from fading too."

"What do you mean?"

 _"Chirithy are bound to their Masters, so if their Master dies or fades into darkness, they will as well. Since I am a part of you now, that technically means Chi is bound to you too,"_ Ava answered her question.

"Oh, that I never knew. I'm glad for that, Chi. I'd be sad if you ended up disappearing." Lucille beamed.

Chi sniffed. "You're so nice, Lady Lucille. It's a shame I can't hear Master Ava's voice, but the knowledge that she still lives on within you is more than enough for me."

"Chi brings up a good point. How come only myself and Zen can hear you and Gula? I mean, I get why Florian can, but no one else seems to know about you guys."

 _"Gula and I are connected, and since you and Zen have us with you, that means you share that connection too."_

"Huh. Say, did you ever find out if there was a traitor among the five of you after all?"

 _"No...I wonder if there really was one to begin with,"_ Ava answered.

"Well, I guess there's no point worrying about it now. Let's go and see what's up with Zen. He's been unusually quiet since we got back." Lucille shrugged and walked towards the large building.

* * *

Zen, on the other hand, was deep in his thoughts, staring at the mural below that once held the keyhole to this world, along with Luma, who was hiding inside it.

 _"You know, you're going to worry everyone if you sulk here any longer."_ Gula finally said something to break the silence. He was currently in a ghostly form that only Zen could see. He wasn't sure how it worked, but it confirmed that Gula was indeed somebody that was sharing a heart with him and not a figment of his imagination.

Zen sighed with an annoyed look. "I forgot you were here. I just needed some time to think about things."

 _"You're worried that you might have to do what Dorga said, aren't you?"_

"You know I can't do that. Can you bring yourself to end the life of a dear friend?" Zen argued.

 _"...I ended up fighting my own fellow foretellers, remember? But you're right. Even if I did have the chance, I wouldn't be able to do that. The guilt would have probably crushed me, and Ava would never have the heart to do it. She's too kind-hearted for that."_

"The point is that even if that's what Ion wants me to do, I...can't do that. I guess I'm just scared."

 _"Scared of seeing your friend transform into a Heartless? Yeah, I can understand that. It's hard to fight friends even if it's to save them in the end."_ Gula nodded in understanding.

"Heh...you're not so bad. I don't like the idea that you've been freeloading inside my heart all this time and not once showed up before all this. Wait, now that I think about it, you didn't make any appearance at all until Lucille showed up," Zen clicked.

 _"I keep telling you, I'm not freeloading!"_ Gula retorted. _"It's complicated. This happened all the way back when your heart had just been born. I get that you find that suspicious and I honestly don't blame you. If our roles had been reversed, I'd probably think the same. As for why I hadn't appeared before now...well...I was trying to protect you, but it backfired."_

"Huh? Protect me?" Zen raised an eyebrow.

 _"I thought if I kept a low profile and stayed hidden in your heart without doing anything to bring attention to you, you wouldn't get caught up in all this, but...that man, Xehanort-he somehow figured it out. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you and Ion when you needed me most._ "

Zen sighed. "Forget it, we can't change the past, no matter how much we wanted things to be different. To be honest, I don't really remember much of what happened with that Xehanort guy when he decided to experiment on me. I'm probably better off not remembering too. Besides, I get it. Xehanort wanted you for some nefarious plot of his, but I was in the way of his plan."

 _"But...you would have never gotten that Heartless claw if I wasn't-what I mean is that you would have been better off and lived a happier childhood if you had left me back in the Realm of Darkness,"_ Gula stated, although his leopard mask hid his expression. Zen had a feeling that he had a guilt-ridden look on his face.

"Look, I don't know what happened or how we ended up sharing a heart like this, but I'm not going to leave you in a ditch because events that were out of our control happened. No one deserves to be trapped in darkness." Zen turned his face away.

"What I'm saying is regardless of what happened, I would never wish for you to have stayed in that darkness. I'm not the kind of guy who abandons someone. Even that stupid jerk Riku, if only just because I don't want Lucille to get mad at me."

Gula had turned with a curious look before his lips curled into a sly smile. _"Heh heh, she's grown on you, hasn't she?"_

"Implying what exactly?" Zen eyed Gula dangerously.

Gula sighed. _"So dense..."_

"Don't make me take back what I said." Zen glared.

 _"Fine, I will tell you this, though. As we had briefly mentioned back in Hallow Bastion, or Radiant Garden as you remember it, just like we are sharing a heart, Ava and Lucille are sharing a heart as well. So essentially, you guys are kinda like our reincarnations, in a meta sort of sense."_

"You've totally lost me." Zen shook his head.

 _"Like I said, it's complicated to explain. I guess all I can tell you is that you two are set to inherit our knowledge and power as Foretellers. When the time is right, the two books of prophecies that you found during your journey so far will come to accept you as their new owners, and when that happens, you'll essentially become the new foretellers for this new world."_

"Inherit? You mean we're your successors? Why do you need successors?" Zen asked.

 _"We followed the teachings of our Master right down to our roles. I have a theory that there was underlying motive to what he did."_

"Motive? Wait, you guys had a teacher?"

 _"Right, I keep forgetting. Yes, the five foretellers-that would be me, Ava, Invi, Ira and Aced- were given a Book of Prophecies each along with a role. I learned later down the line from Ava that her role was to find special keyblade wielders who have shown they have strong resistance to the darkness and then have them scatter to other worlds so that they will be able to teach others to become keyblade wielders to fight against the darkness."_

 _"My role was to find the traitor among us and stop them before they ignited the Keyblade War and bring our world to ruin. Obviously, you can tell that failed spectacularly. The war transpired despite our efforts to prevent it, but perhaps that was what the Master wanted."_

"I see, so you think he made up that whole thing about the traitor to plant seeds of doubt between you guys so you couldn't work together?"

 _"Perhaps, or the traitor that was mentioned in the Book of Prophecies was actually in the far future. I think we had a terrible misunderstanding and assumed the traitor existed in our time,"_ Gula told him.

"That makes sense too. So you guys ended up losing trust in each other and because of that, the peace that you tried to maintain broke apart, hence the Keyblade War."

Gula nodded. _"I made a terrible mistake as well. I tried to summon Kingdom Hearts by trying to gather as much lux as I could. I wanted answers from the Master."_ Gula then let out a defeated laugh. _"I feel like such a fool for thinking I could have accomplished that."_

"If the war was inevitable, there was nothing you could have done to change it. It wasn't your fault or any of the Foretellers. If anyone's the blame, it's that Master of yours for writing down the future in those books. Sometimes it's better to not know what happens in the future and take each day as it comes."

Gula looked at Zen with a stunned look. _"That's...surprisingly deep for you."_

"Hey! I'm trying to cheer you up here!" Zen barked.

 _"Heh, yeah, I know. You know what? Maybe you're right. Thanks, Zen. I'm glad that you were the one that I ended up sharing a heart with, and I don't usually give thanks often, so you better engrave that into your memory."_ Gula smiled.

 _"Getting back to what I was saying, though, perhaps the Master knew that the five of us would have ended up in the Realm of Darkness and our hearts would be salvaged from the darkness by five individuals with strong pure hearts full of light. I guess in his own way, he predicted that you five would become our successors and inherit our title from us. I mean, we are basically dead now so the power that's still within us is useless now. It would be better to pass it on to a worthy successor who would use that power wisely and for good."_

"And I was one of those five? I find that hard to believe." Zen shook his head.

 _"How would I be here if I was lying?"_ Gula countered victoriously. _"You have a good heart, Zen, you always had from the start. Yes, you have darkness, but you have much more light within you than you think. Trust me, I've been with you for the past fifteen years. If I don't know what's in your heart by now, I can't call myself a Foreteller."_

 _"Gula's right! I can't believe you would sell yourself so short!"_ Lucille's voice suddenly broke through.

The two boys turned to see Lucille, Florian and Chi there.

Gula sighed and crossed his arms. _"Okay, Ava, how long have you guys been spying on us?"_

 _"Sorry...You guys were having such a wonderful bonding moment we felt it would be wrong to ruin it."_ Ava showed her own ghostly form and brought her hands together in an apologetic gesture.

"Whoa! When have you been able to do that, Ava?!" Lucille jumped in shock.

 _"Oh, that's right. I forgot to tell you that we can do this. We couldn't back in Hallow Bastion because..."_

 _"It would have been awkward to just suddenly show up out of nowhere and freaking everyone out. We decided it would be best if we just kept it to just you, Zen, your Seraph friend, Ava's Chirithy and that rabbit friend of yours,"_ Gula answered.

"Mr. Oswald, you mean," Florian corrected innocently.

 _"It would be best to keep it to that for now. Not that we don't trust your other friends, but the less people who know that we exist the better. That knowledge could end up in the wrong hands and will put you two in greater danger than you are in now,"_ Gula continued.

"I understand. Could have given me a warning, though, Ava. You almost gave me a heart attack!" Lucille placed a hand over her heart.

 _"I'm sorry,"_ Ava apologized.

"Well, we came up here because we were worried about you, Zen. Aster said you left because you wanted some time alone. Are you worried about Ion?" Lucille asked.

"Honestly, that Aster..." Zen grumbled. "I suppose there's no point in me hiding it. I'm afraid of what we'll find when we go back there. I never knew how bad Ion's condition was. As you know, I can't see Seraphim anymore thanks to the influence of this claw. I could still hear Ion, though. He sounded tired, weak even, but I never imagined he would have been that worn down. I feel awful for not noticing."

"There was nothing you could have done. Ion didn't want you to see him in his current state anyway. I think he'd rather you remember him the way he was ten years ago," Lucille told him.

"That doesn't absolve the guilt I feel. What's worse, he's now asking us to end his life. I don't want that." Zen's' voice shook slightly.

Lucille noted that crack in his voice but decided to not bring it up. Now was not the time. "We're not going to end his life. We're going to save him, even if we have to drag him back from the depths of darkness," Lucille told him defiantly.

Zen softly smiled. "Yeah, we will, won't we? I've truly sunk low if I had to have the island girl to encourage me."

"Say what?! This is the last time I try to cheer you up, you jerk!" Lucille roared.

 _"You make it too easy for him, you know,"_ Gula teased.

"Don't side with him!" Lucille retorted before huffing and crossing her arms.

" Anyway...getting back to how we're going to save him. The dilemma we have now is how we're going to get inside Ion's heart. I doubt the Lux Arma is capable of that, and your claw is definitely out of the question," Lucille contemplated.

 _"Then...I guess it's time to bestow upon you something I had wanted to give to you a long time ago. Please lift your hand, Lucille,"_ Ava cryptically asked.

"Okaaay." Lucille gave a confused look but did as Ava asked. Once she did, she saw a keyblade very different from the one Sora used appear in her hands. "What the?!"

"Wow. What a beautiful keyblade!" Florian looked on with awe.

"That is Master Ava's keyblade. I haven't seen it in ages. To think it had been waiting for a new Master to succeed Master Ava for all this time..." Chi explained to the small seraph boy.

"Wait a minute. Lucille can use a Keyblade? When did _this_ happen?" Zen blinked.

 _"To be honest, I could have given my keyblade to her at any time, but I feel now is the right time to pass it on,"_ Ava answered.

 _"You see, we had always intended to pass on our keyblades to you two along with all of our wisdom and abilities, but we had to wait until you guys were ready to wield one,"_ Gula added.

"What did Chi mean by 'waiting for its new master'?" Lucille asked Ava.

 _"I'm nothing more than a ghost now, Lucille, but this keyblade…Its always been waiting for a new master worthy of its power to come along."_

"But I'm nothing special. I'm just a bookworm girl from an archipelago of islands who got caught up in things greater than herself. I'm nothing to write home about." Lucille shook her head.

 _"That's simply not true. Even the most ordinary of people can make the greatest of differences. Besides, there's no one else I'd rather bestow my keyblade to."_ Ava smiled kindly.

"Thanks, Ava..." Lucille thanked. It touched her to know Ava trusted her that much to entrust her keyblade into her hands. "This is actually kinda cool. Now I can duel-wield with both the Lux Arma and Ava's Keyblade!"

"So Zen has one too, right? Ooh, I want to see! Master Ava's keyblade looks so pretty, so I imagine Master Gula's looks incredible too." Florian beamed brightly.

Zen sighed, "To be honest, I know nothing about how to wield a sword, let alone a keyblade, I've always used this claw to fight my battles."

 _"It's never too late for you to learn, though. Seriously, you have three masters to learn from here. You're spoiled for choice,"_ Gula encouraged.

"You're talking about Oswald when you speak of a third master, right?" Lucille asked thoughtfully.

 _"Naturally, even Ava and I can tell that Prince Oswald has extraordinary skill as a Keyblade wielder. He's definitely worthy of being called a true Keyblade Master,"_ Gula told her.

"I'm sure Mr. Oswald wouldn't mind teaching you, Zen. I'd think he would really like to have you as an apprentice~" Florian added.

"I suppose when the day comes we find a way to restore my arm to what it used to be, having a backup weapon wouldn't be such a bad idea...You know that I'll suck, though, in the beginning, right?" Zen warned, glancing at his bandaged arm. There was still a chance that they could find a way to reverse it back to what his arm used to be. When that day came, he wouldn't be able to use the claw as his main weapon anymore.

 _"I wasn't expecting you to master it overnight,"_ Gula sighed.

"Suppose it wouldn't hurt to train in how to wield it on the off-chance that we find a way to change my arm back to normal."

"See? Now you're thinking positive!" Lucille cheered.

Zen rolled his eyes. "Anyway, what does giving Lucille your keyblade now have to do with all of this?"

 _"A keyblade is capable of entering the heart of another. We call it 'Deep Dive'. To be honest, though, it was originally a seraphic arte that the Master managed to perfect with his keyblade, and thus he applied that to other keyblades he could create afterwards,"_ Gula informed.

"There's actually something that I haven't told you all yet. There could be a way to banish the darkness that's causing Lord Ion's corruption," Florian confessed.

"Really? Are you saying you can heal Ion's heart?" Zen asked curiously.

Florian nodded. "In a sense, but...I've never used it before. I only learnt it from Lord Yggdrasil recently. You see, after the Keyblade War that took so many of our kind, Lord Yggdrasil wanted to try and develop a seraphic arte that could be used to purify a Seraphim's heart without killing them in the process," Florian began.

"Ah yes, you said that he was a young seraph when the Keyblade War happened. I can imagine that would have spurred anyone to develop such an arte after witnessing such a tragic loss of hearts for both sides," Chi recalled.

"Lord Yggdrasil managed to create a purification arte that would work on our kind...in theory."

"In theory? That doesn't sound good," Lucille groaned.

"It's a union arte so it would require a Seraphim pact for it to work," Florian explained.

 _"Ahhh, that makes sense. Since your leader chose to forbid future seraphim from making pacts with anyone, there would be no way for him to test the arte. So there's a good chance that it could either work or backfire on us. Are you sure you want to test something so risky?"_ Gula warned.

"Well, experimental arte or not, I trust Flo, so if he believes in his leader's words that it has a good chance of working for Ion, then I'll believe in Yggdrasil too, even if he does sound like a stick in the mud most of the time," Lucille answered with determination.

"Usually, I'd be against something like this. But if there's a chance it can save Ion, I'm willing to put my trust in Florian and that arte, too. It's better than just doing nothing at all," Zen agreed.

Gula shrugged, _"I'm just speaking my mind, but if you guys think it'll work then who knows? Crazier things have happened, after all."_

 _"Heh heh, I think they're starting to rub off on you, Gula."_ Ava giggled. _"I trust in both Lucille and Florian, so if they think it'll work then I'm sure it will."_

"Lord Yggdrasil is the leader of the Seraphim, after all. I'm sure he wouldn't put one of his own kin in danger if he thought that the union arte would not work. I want to believe in Lord Florian, too," Chi added.

"Thank you, everyone." Florian smiled happily.

"How come you never told us about this back there?" Zen questioned.

"So much happened at once, I didn't have time to explain it," Florian admitted.

"True. At least now we have some sort of plan. We should go find Sora and Oswald. They need to know about this."

Ava and Gula's ghostly forms disappeared but Zen and Lucille knew they were with them.

"So," Lucille asked as they started to leave Gizmo's bell tower, "I've been meaning to ask-how long have you and Gula known each other?"

"Tch, I could ask you the same question. If you must know, according to him, he's been with me since the day I was born. Personally, I think that's ludicrous, but after everything we've seen, I don't know if I should question the logic of this universe anymore," Zen answered.

"Heh, yeah, you can say that again. This journey has been quite an experience for me." Lucille smiled before turning to face him. "I've made so many friends and seen worlds beyond what I could ever imagine back when I lived on my island, and you and Oswald helped us in more ways than I could count. So, thank you."

"If I remember correctly, you barged your way into our group." Zen smirked.

"Did not!" Lucille huffed.

"Still, I suppose it wasn't all too bad. It was actually..."

"...?" Lucille waited to hear what Zen was going to say next but…

"We're off to find the rabbit and your brother, right? Let's go." Zen walked passed her, lifted his muffler scarf a little to cover the lower half of his face and proceeded to the ladder.

…She was taken aback by the sudden change of topic

"Wha? HEY! Don't just start something and not finish it! Get back here, you-!" Lucille flared, chasing after the greenette.

Chi and Florian sighed. "Humans are so complicated."

"Indeed, Lord Florian, I don't think I'll ever understand them."

* * *

They had walked back to the Inn to learn from Leon that Sora and Kairi had gone to the waterway while Oswald had gone back to the Ortensia to make some last-minute preparations with Cid. Luma also told them that Aster had gone with Cid and Oswald to help with the alterations to the gummi ships. Leon then left the house in order to patrol the districts to make it safer to get around those districts, despite the rising increase of the Heartless.

While Lucille had the urge to go spy on Sora and Kairi, she decided against it, knowing that they deserved some time to themselves.

So they decided to just wait and spend some time with Luma.

"So, are you really okay, Luma? Your vessel took quite a beating," Lucille asked, noticing all the cracks that showed on the once flawless porcelain skin of her artificial body that was powered by clockwork alone, a marvel of the genius inventor, Gizmo.

Luma shook her head with a smile. "I'm alright. Mr. Cid and Aster said that they'll work on sealing the fractures once they have free time," Luma reassured.

"Hey, Luma, what do you plan to do once this is over? I mean, won't Aster and everyone go back to Hallow Bastion, or rather, Radiant Garden, when it's restored?" Florian wondered.

"Hmmm...I think I would like to go with them to their world. There's nothing left for me here, so I'd rather be where my new friends. I don't wanna be alone."

Florian smiled. "I can understand. I'm sure they'll be able to bring you along, too."

"Of course, there's no way Aster would leave you here, Luma. He's too nice of a guy to be like that." Lucille softly stroked the small seraph girl's hair.

"Not to mention Cid wouldn't leave you behind either. Despite his gruff and scary appearance, he's a good man, he'll definitely watch out for you," Zen agreed.

Luma smiled. "I know. Mr. Cid is very kind indeed. He's like a big cuddly teddy bear deep down."

"I wouldn't go that far." Zen sweatdropped.

"Okay, I did not need that image in my life, Luma." Aster's voice entered the room, making them all turn to see Aster had entered along with Cid.

"Hey, ya lil' punk, what's that meant to mean?!" Cid barked.

"Oh, Aster! Mr. Cid!" Luma happily approached. "How did those repairs go?"

"They're in good shape, which is a first for a certain someone. If ya wonderin' about the rabbit, he's still back on the Ortensia doing some last-minute check-ups," Cid grumbled. "Either way, they'll get ya back to Hallow Bastion without much hassle. Be careful, though, it'll probably be crawlin' with more of those little buggers by now."

"We will, Cid. We don't plan to die today." Lucille winked.

"Well good, because that would ruin my day," Aster joked. "Seriously, though, I'm tagging along with you guys. And I'm not taking no for an answer this time."

"Dude, you just got kidnapped not long ago. You want to go back there? Not only that, it's far too dangerous for you," Zen argued.

"If you tell me it's because I'm a prince, I'm going to smack you." Aster looked annoyed.

"Aster, that's not it. Okay, so maybe there's a little truth in that," Zen started. "You need to be here for when we liberate our home back from the Heartless. They're going to need you to lead them to rebuild it. You'll have Leon, Cid, Yuffie, Aerith and Luma. And we plan to add Ion to that list, too, when we get him back."

"I know that I have responsibilities as the next ruler, but..."

"You're worried about Ion, aren't you?" Lucille asked.

Aster nodded. "Ion's not just your friend, Zen-he's mine, too. I want to help you guys get him back considering it was my father's research into the workings of the heart that led up to our world getting swallowed in the first place. Not only that, you and Ion ended up being guinea pigs for that creep Xehanort."

"Aster..."

"I want to correct that mistake. I'm going to find a way to reverse the damage that was done. I'll find a way to restore your arm to what it used to be, Zen. And I want to help pull Ion out of the darkness that he had suffered to endure for so long alone."

"...You're not really going take no for an answer, huh?" Zen sighed.

"Nope. I'll just smuggle myself on board if I have to." Aster crossed his arms.

"Geez, kid. Well, you look like your mind's made up. I won't stop ya, but don't look at me if ya get chewed out by Leon later," Cid told him.

"Oh, I already know Leon will never let me hear the end of it, but this is something that I want to do. Something I have to do. As the future ruler, I have to take responsibility for my predecessor's mistakes, starting with getting our friend back."

"Yuffie and I will be sure to keep Leon from realizing you've gone to Hallow Bastion as well. I can tell that you really want to help, and it would be wrong of us to try and convince you otherwise."

"Ah, don't worry, we got this covered. I'll just use my super sneaky ninja skills to keep him too occupied to notice."

"Thanks, why can't Leon be this understandable?" Aster gratefully thanked Cid, Aerith and Yuffie for their support in his choice.

"Fine. You win. I won't stop you this time. I just hope you brushed up on that lance training." Zen threw his arms up in defeat.

"Pfft, please, besides repairing the odd device or two and tending the store, I _literally_ have nothing else to do but train." Aster rolled his eyes. "Heh, thanks, Zen. I knew I'd break you down eventually into letting me tag along," He thanked his best friend.

"Any heroics from you and you're getting a one-way ticket back to Traverse Town," Zen warned.

"Yes Dad, I'll be careful." Aster sarcastically answered in a playful manner.

"Honestly, even with your memories back, you're still so frustratingly stubborn when you want to be."

"Heh heh, you know that you find it one of my most endearing features," Aster teased.

"I beg to differ," Zen scoffed.

"You better come back in one piece, though. Understood, ya little punk? Not one scratch on ya," Cid warned.

"Don't worry, I have these guys at my back."

"We'll make sure Aster comes back in one piece, Cid," Lucille reassured.

"Then I want to go, too! I can help with my artes. I'm not a fighter...but I can cast barriers and nullify the barriers of others," Luma offered.

"Actually, Luma's artes could really help us if we're trying to get through to Ion. The place where he is right now is probably saturated in darkness, so we'll need some kind of protection," Florian told them, vouching for Luma's aid.

"You don't think your magic will be enough, Lord Florian?" Chi asked.

"Union artes take up a lot of magical energy from both myself and Lucille, so we'll need to reserve as much as possible if we want to use the purification arte once we're inside Ion's heart," Florian explained.

"It's been a while since we've used one of those. I hope it'll work. What am I saying? Of course it'll work." Lucille tried to keep herself positive. It was their only plan to save Ion, after all. They had to make it work.

"I'm sure we'll be able to do it, Lucille. We're a team, after all," Florian encouraged.

"You got that right." Lucille winked.

"You sure about this, though, Luma? It'll be dangerous and crawling with Heartless," Aster asked.

Luma nodded. "I'm a Seraph. Fighting the darkness is what our kind is best at." Luma gave a kind smile to reassure her friend.

"You're a brave girl, Luma. Just be sure to stay close with us, okay?"

"Got it," Luma agreed with the condition.

"Alright then! All we need to do now is wait for Sora, Donald and Goofy to come back with Kairi. They'll need to know what we have in mind, too," Lucille told the others.

"True, we'll need their help if we want to get anywhere near that castle," Zen agreed.

And so they decided to make their way to where the Gummi Ships were stationed, making sure to check if they were prepared for what awaited them when they got there.

 _'Hang in there, Ion. I don't know how, but...this time it's our turn to save you,'_ Zen vowed, looking at his bandaged arm that contained the beastial Heartless claw within it. It was always a dark reminder of his failures, not being able to help anyone. He hoped that at the very least, he could use this claw of his for something good for once.

* * *

Meanwhile, somewhere else far away...

"Ngh...Nnn..." Riku groaned in pain, but his thoughts weren't on his own pain but that of his friends. 'Lucille...Sora...Kairi...I'm sorry...'

He opened his eyes and gazed at the dark world around him with only a bland, grey road that seemed to lead to nowhere that he was lying on. It appeared to be the only source that seemed to luminate the place a little. "Is this the afterworld?"

He tried to stand up and walk a little but nearly fell until he caught himself mid-step, his body glowing a pale blue light aura. "I'm not ready. Not yet. Not until I see Lucille, Sora and Kairi one last time..."

He still had to wonder how he got here and how he was in full control again. It wasn't until now that he felt something in his pocket. He dug it out to see what it was. It looked like a small charm of sorts with a crystaline fragment that contained a gentle warm light from within.

His memory of what happened just before his subconscious left him, assuming that he was back from under Ansem's control, returned to him swiftly.

"This is the only way I can help you. I know your heart is strong enough to win over the darkness that haunts you, but you will need something to protect you if the worst should happen. Please take it." Ion handed over to him the charm that would follow him to this dark place.

"I created it using the very last of my power. It's known as a Lux charm. Our kind uses it to help us get around the Realm of Light without a vessel in dire circumstances. Lux is very hard to find, so I harvested the little light I had left in me to crystalize it into lux. I hope...you will meet your friends again." He remembered Ion's body fading away, his body blackening at a faster pace than before, becoming less human and more heartless like.

"Thank...you...for caring...about me, at least a little. That...means more to me...than you know."

Riku gripped the lux charm tightly in his hand, biting his lip. "He...protected me. He sacrificed what little strength he had left to save my ungrateful heart." He recalled the time he first encountered Ion when he first arrived at Hallow Bastion. He was indifferent to him originally, but after he believed Maleficent's lies about the Seraphim, even though he knew the seraph was there, he just turned a blind eye, ignoring Ion's warnings. What did he mean by caring about him? Could it be he meant that Riku never told Maleficent about Ion? That little detail meant that much to the seraph?

Even if that was the case, Ion had all reason, and rightly so, to allow Riku to be consumed by the darkness, let him understand the suffering that he had undergone for so long, but he didn't. Ion did the exact opposite.

"Ion...I'm so sorry."

"Riku, can you hear me? I'll be there soon." A new voice echoed in the darkness. It wasn't Ansem's voice. This one seemed much kinder and warm.

"Who is that?" Riku sharply looked around, trying to find the owner of that voice.

 _"I have the other keyblade-the one that belongs to this world. I've been trying to get through to you but the darkness in your heart kept me away,"_ The voice started its explanation.

"Who are you? What's happened to me?" Riku demanded.

 _"Your heart won the battle against darkness, but it was too late for your body. That's why you're here-in this place of darkness where hearts are gathered."_

"I get it. That's what Ion meant when he gave me this lux charm. He feared this would happen so he gave this to me so that I'd have a fighting chance in this place. So what do I do?" Riku glanced at the charm once more before looking up to the dark void that blanketed this realm.

 _"The Door to Darkness will open soon, but it's a door we can't enter. It has to be closed from both sides. To do this, you need two keys and two hearts. Maybe you're here for the same reason as I am. Maybe it was fate,"_ The voice continued.

"Fate, huh? You seem to know everything, don't you? Then tell me: Are Lucille, Sora and Kairi okay?" Riku asked the question into the darkness.

 _"Don't you feel the echoes of their hearts? You already know the answer. Look inside your own heart,"_ The voice answered.

"...Okay. They're safe at least. I'm glad." Riku felt a burden on his heart be lifted as he found the answer that he wanted to know so badly. He had already done so many unforgivable things, but so long as his friends were still alive and safe, he could live without being ever forgiven with that knowledge in mind.

 _"Don't worry, I'll find you soon. So just stay strong and hang in there,"_ The voice continued before it disappeared completely.

"Hey wait!" Riku tried to call out but all that was left besides himself was silence. He then looked back to the lux charm that Ion gave him. He decided to keep it attached to his belt. If he was going to traverse this strange dark world, he would make sure that the last of Ion's power didn't go to waste. He owed that much to him.

"I guess the only way to go is forward. I have to see my friends again, if only just one last time." With that said, he took his first steps in this place. Who knows where it would lead him, but he hoped that it would take him to where he wanted to be.

* * *

And that's episode 19! I hope you guys enjoyed it! Hopefully episode 20 will be done as quick as this one was. XD

Thanks again to everyone who reviewed, favorited or alerted this fan fic. It makes me happy to know people are reading and enjoying the story. =D

Until episode 20 then, this is Moogle Empress signing off. Happy Reading, everyone!

Moogle Empress, out!

Moogle: Kupo!


	21. Episode 20: The Light Within Darkness

Heya guys, Moogle Empress here! I hope I haven't kept you guys waiting too long with this chapter, if so I apologize. =(

Anyway, here's Episode 20. Please enjoy the last chapter of the Hallow Bastion Arc (Serious this time. We'll be at end-game territory after this.) XD

I'll admit the Hallow Bastion Arc went on longer than I originally intended, but there was so much I wanted to write down that whole arc itself ended up being longer. It worked out in the end, though, so that's good enough for me. =3

Ready? Here we go!

* * *

 **Episode 20: The Light Within The Darkness**

* * *

In the First District, Lucille and her friends were on their way to see Oswald on the Ortensia. What they didn't expect was for Moglette to fly towards them and tackle hug Aster's arm.

"Oh, thank goodness, kupo! We heard everything from Aerith of what happened after I got knocked out, kupo! Are you all okay? Especially you, Luma, I remember seeing that boy throw you across the room, kupo," Moglette asked in a flurry of questions.

"We're okay, Moglette. Are you alright? You got hurt as well," Luma asked. Although Aerith managed to heal most of the Moogle's injuries, some marks still remained.

"Ha! This? This is nothing, kupo! I've had worse injuries to my pom-pom than this, kupo," Moglette reassured.

"It's good to hear that you weren't too badly hurt, Moglette. Aerith is an incredible healer to have healed you so quickly." Lucille was glad to hear that the Moogle was just as chipper and lively as ever.

"I'm sorry, Moglette. That still must have hurt a lot," Aster apologized.

"Don't be silly, kupo. You're a friend of the Moogles! There's no way I was going to stand by and do nothing, kupo." Moglette shook her head.

"You're a good friend." Lucille gently petted the Moogle, making sure not to touch the pom-pom since she had heard from Aerith that it was a very sensitive part of the Moogle body.

"I heard about what happened to you as well, Lucille. Glad you're okay, kupo. Those meanies didn't do anything to you, did they?" Moglette asked.

Lucille shook her head and winked. "Nah, I'm tougher than I look."

"We were actually on our way to see Oswald. Old man Cid told us he's inside the Ortensia," Aster told the head artisan of the Moogles.

"Why? Where do you plan to go, kupo?"

Just as Lucille was about to answer, she saw her brother, along with Donald and Goofy, heading towards the shop as well.

"Hey, I thought you guys would be already back at your Gummi Ship." Lucille waved.

"Sis? We were going to visit the Synthesis shop to buy some things before going to Hallow Bastion. Why are you here?"

"Sora, we're going to need your help," She started.

After explaining to Sora, Donald and Goofy about their plan, Moglette was the first to react in a panic.

"WHAT?! You're going back to Hallow Bastion, kupo?! But you just got back from there, kupo! Why do you want to go back to the dragon's den, kupo?!" Moglette jumped.

"Like we just said, Moglette, we have to save that world from being plunged into darkness. That world is important not just to Aster and Zen, but Kairi, Leon, Aerith, Yuffie and Cid, too. I don't want that world to be another Destiny Islands, not when there's a chance we can save it."

"But Sis, it's going to be overrun with Heartless and-"

"Sora, I'm going and you're not stopping me." Lucille placed her hands on her hips.

"I had a feeling you were going to say that... I know how annoyingly stubborn you are when you set your mind on something, so I won't stop you." Sora sighed in defeat. "Anyway, you're saying that you want to go there to save...Ion, right? By using that experimental spell?" Sora asked.

"Yes, everything I just told you is what Florian told me himself. He'd never lie over something this important." Florian knew that Donald and Goofy couldn't see him, so he let Lucille do the explaining.

"But Lucille, you just said that it was an experimental spell, you don't even know if it'll work!" Donald tried to reason.

"But this was an arte developed by the leader of the Seraphim himself! An Elder Seraph, to be exact, they're known to be the wisest and most powerful among them," Chi reasoned back.

"I trust Flo, so if he thinks it'll work, then I'll put my faith in the arte, too," Lucille agreed.

Donald shrugged. "If you say so, I hope that it does work for that guy's sake."

"I do too. Ion suffered ten years of fighting the darkness alone to protect a world that's on the brink of losing what little light remained. Even when Ion guided us through the castle, he was trying so hard to protect the people around him, even though the corruption of darkness was clearly taking a toll on his body and mind. He saved me and Aster back there. He helped free us from the cell that Maleficent trapped us in."

"Wait, so Ion was the reason you guys were able to escape?" Sora clicked.

"Ion was the one who busted you out of the dungeon?" Zen looked to both Lucille and Aster, asking the same question as Sora.

"Oh, that's right. We never told you how we managed to break out. Ion found us and used an arte to open the lock. We'd probably still be there if Ion hadn't helped us. I probably wouldn't have gotten my memory back either if Ion hadn't been guiding us through the castle."

"He was with us the entire time, guiding us through the castle and fighting alongside us when the Heartless attacked us throughout. Well, technically it was Aster and Ion who did the fighting. I didn't have my Lux Arma at the time since the pact-bond between me and Florian was still too damaged from before," Lucille nodded.

"Ya know, I bet it was this Ion fella as well who teleported all of us to the foyer after what happened with Sora. I mean, I never saw the fella but I have a funny feelin' he was with us all that time," Goofy noted.

"Then count us in. I want to help save him too. I have to thank him for protecting you when I couldn't, and I can't do that if he's still trapped inside that place. Besides...I know what it's like to be in that darkness from first-hand experience, no one should have to suffer that," Sora decided.

"Sora...Thanks, you're the best," Lucille thanked her brother.

"Ya know, I bet he's still there waiting for ya guys. So long as ya don't give up on him, I bet he won't give up yet either," Goofy encouraged.

Lucille blinked before smiling at Goofy. "You know what? You're right. Our hearts are connected now, so perhaps he knows that we're coming to save him. We're going to pull him out of that darkness once and for all."

"...I really hope we're not too late," Zen quietly muttered to himself.

"I guess I can't stop you from going back, kupo. I'm no fighter, so the best I can do is gear you with our best stuff."

"Thanks, Moglette, we'll be okay, though," Aster thanked the moogle for the kind offer.

"So we need to hurry and get over to that world. If what you say about Lord Ion is true, then that world won't have long left without it's guardian," Luma spoke up.

"Wait, Luma is coming?" Sora blinked.

"And me as well," Aster added.

"Luma may not look it, but she's a seraph who can create and nullify barriers at will. Her help will aid us a lot," Florian explained.

"Are you sure? It'll be dangerous," Donald asked.

"Don't worry, Mr. Donald. I might not be much of a fighter, but I can still fend for myself in a tight spot," Luma smiled kindly at the duck.

"Well, even so, you better stay close to all of us, got it? We'll be able to watch out for you that way."

"Understood. Thank you, Mr. Donald. You're a good friend." Luma nodded earnestly.

"Aw phooey, I just think it's dangerous for a little girl like you, that's all." Donald crossed his arms and looked away.

"I can see a blush there, Donald~" Lucille teased.

"She's got a point, though, the rabbit's gonna want to know about this plan of ours, too." Zen brought everyone back to the main issue they faced.

"Right, onwards to the Ortensia!"

"Wait, hold on a minute!" They heard Kairi's voice call out to them from behind. They turned to see Kairi running towards them.

"Kairi? Why are you here? You should be back in the 2nd District with Leon and the others," Sora questioned.

"I can't see you guys off?" Kairi huffed.

"Our Gummi Ships are only outside the gate of the First District, Sora. I'm sure she'll be okay going this far."

Kairi beamed at her best friend. "See? Lu understands."

Sora shook his head. "You're as stubborn as my sister, you know that, Kairi?"

"Hee hee. Really? You just noticed?" Kairi giggled. "Besides, I haven't properly said goodbye to Lu yet. I want to be able to do that at least."

"We'll go on ahead then and tell Oswald. We'll see you in a minute," Zen told Lucille.

Lucille nodded. "Okay then, see you guys in a sec."

As everyone besides Florian and Chi headed off to where the Gummi Ships were stationed, Lucille then turned back to her best friend.

"I take it Sora was pretty firm on you staying here?"

Kairi smiled. "Yeah, not without trying to convince him to let me come with him first, though. Do you remember that lucky charm I showed you? I was able to finally finish it and give it to him. I hope that it'll keep him safe wherever he goes. I'll still miss him, though."

"Hey, Sora will come back to you. He'd be crazy not to. And if he keeps you waiting too long, I'll drag him back myself." Lucille winked.

"Heh, he's not the only one I want to see again. Promise me that you will come back home as well. Riku too," Kairi asked.

Lucille nodded and gave Kairi a reassuring squeeze on her hand. "Hey, we're best friends forever, no matter how far apart we are. We'll always find our way back to each other. Besides, I'd rather not face the wrath of my Mom. She's scarier than any Heartless when she's angry."

Kairi laughed softly.

"If it makes you feel better to hear it, though, I promise Kairi-we'll all come back home together. I'll even drag Riku's sorry butt back from wherever he is if I have to."

Kairi closed her eyes and smiled brightly. "Thanks Lu, stay safe, got it?"

"Got it." Lucille nodded.

"You'll keep her safe, too, right Florian? Chi?" Kairi turned to the seraph boy and the Chirithy.

"Of course, Kairi. I'll protect Lucille with my life." Florian nodded.

"Rest assured, Princess. As her self-appointed guardian, I'll keep Lady Lucille safe and keep her on the right path so that she will return to the islands with all of your friends." Chi proudly puffed up her chest.

"Oh wow, a self-appointed guardian, huh?" Kairi smirked.

"It's a long story." Lucille sweatdropped. "You better keep yourself safe as well. Can't have my brother's future girlfriend get her heart stolen twice, now can we?" Lucille teased.

"Oh you-!" Kairi playfully slapped her best friend's arm with a bright red blush on her cheeks.

"C'mon, I'll walk you back to the 2nd District. I don't feel right about letting you walk this place by yourself with the Heartless all over the place right now," Lucille offered.

"Thanks, Lu," Kairi thanked as the two friends, followed by Florian and Chi, returned back to the 2nd District to leave her in the care of Leon and the others, where they knew she would be safe in their care.

* * *

After making sure Kairi had gotten back safely and then walking all the way back to the First District, they entered the Ortensia to see Zen, Aster, Luma and Oswald talking. It was only when they heard Lucille's footsteps that they turned to face her.

"Aha, you're finally here! Sora and his pals just went inside their Gummi Ship. They're waiting on our signal so we can launch into interspace at the same time," Oswald informed.

"Sorry for keeping you, I had to escort my best friend back into the care of Yuffie, Aerith and Cid. Luckily, I didn't see Leon, so I think we're still in the clear before he realizes Aster is with us," Lucille apologized.

"Thanks for looking out for my sister. I'm glad she's found such a good friend in you." Aster gave a thankful smile.

"You don't need to thank me for looking out for my best friend. I would have done it anyway. No way I was going to let her walk back by herself with the Heartless wandering around."

"Begs the question of how she managed to catch up to us without the Heartless noticing," Zen wondered.

"Eh, girl's got some stealth moves." Oswald shrugged.

"So did they tell you about our plan, Oswald?" Lucille asked the rabbit.

"Zen told me the whole thing. Ya sure about this? This is a serious risk you guys are takin' here. I'm no expert on hearts, but entering the domain of one's heart is risky business. Make the wrong move and you could end up losing your own hearts in there," Oswald warned.

Florian and Lucille looked at each other and nodded in perfect union.

"We're aware that what we're doing is incredibly risky to both us and Ion's heart, but we have to try. I refuse to accept that ending his life is the only choice we have. Besides, Ion's a friend-we have to try and help him, just like how he reached out and helped us."

Oswald smiled and looked out at the cockpit's window. "I figured that's what ya'd say, little lady. Well, better than doing nothin' at all, right?"

"Right!"

"His strength of will must be amazing if he could resist the darkness for ten years and keep the heart of that world safe," Luma tried to reassure.

"That's what we're hoping. The Ion I know wouldn't give up just yet, at least not without putting up a last ditch effort," Zen told Luma.

"Alright then, since we're all in agreement on this, time to pay a visit to Hallow Bastion once again." Oswald activated the engines on the Ortensia, allowing it to start hovering and slowly ascend upwards. Sora's Gummi Ship followed soon behind when they saw the signal from Oswald.

Once both ships were in the air, they left the world of Traverse Town behind them and initiated the warp drive to their destination: Hallow Bastion.

* * *

Arriving on the back at the falls leading up to the castle, they were greeted by a familiar face, or at least, to Sora and his friends he was.

"Beast? Where's Belle?" Sora approached next to the large creature and asked.

"Still in the castle," Beast answered very simply.

"Against her will?" Goofy questioned next.

"No, I think she stayed for a reason. The other princesses are inside as well."

"I wonder why?" Donald questioned.

"Let's go ask them," Sora suggested.

"Well, we have to go that way to reach the keyhole anyway. Perhaps the reason why they stayed is because-" Oswald started before another voice chimed in.

"Yo, about time you guys showed up. I was getting really bored having to wait here with beast boy over here."

"Moira?!" Lucille quickly turned around to see it was indeed the teal-haired witch herself.

"Lulu, I keep telling you, it's the Magnificent Moira Del-"

"Yeah yeah, whatever, why are you here?" Zen interrupted Moira's grand opening that she always did.

"Hmph, nobody likes a buzzkill," Moira huffed, puffing out her cheeks. "Fine, I guess I can tell you. Master Matoya sent me back to help you guys as soon as I finished reporting to her what happened," Moira explained.

"I thought as an observer you're not allowed to get involved in the affairs of other worlds or mess with the flow of time," Lucille recalled.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm leaving the hard work to you guys. I'm just the back-up. Even I can assist so long as I don't do anything that I'm not supposed to do." Moira smirked.

"She is a friend of yours?" Beast asked.

"Actually, I want to know this too. Who is she?" Sora agreed with Beast.

"Well, I guess you could say she's a friend, yeah." Lucille laughed nervously.

"A very annoying one," Zen then added bluntly.

"How cold! And I came all the way here to help you!" Moira faked her hurt. They saw a Meow Wow poke out from behind Moira.

"Oh, hey there, you're Moira's Meow Wow, right? I remember you. Thanks for your help from before, little guy." Lucille beamed at the Dream Eater that she recalled from Monstro Moira summoned to help them out.

The Meow Wow then hopped over happily and proceeded to lick Lucille's face.

"Looks like the little guy's taken a huge liking to you after the whole Monstro experience." Moira placed her arms behind her head.

"Wait, didn't we see one of those things back in Monstro?" Donald recalled.

"Yup, we sure did. They're pretty cute, don't cha think?" Goofy nodded.

"They're called Dream Eaters, guardian spirits from the Realm of Dreams. With my awesome power at my fingertips, I can summon them here at my beckoning. Unfortunately, this is as far as these little guys are going to go with the way Hollow Bastion is right now."

"Huh? You can't take them inside Hollow Bastion?" Lucille asked, the Meow Wow whimpering at the word Hollow Bastion.

"The castle is literally dripping in darkness right now, it's a miracle that those princesses are still in one piece. Dream Eaters, like Seraphim, are highly resistant to darkness in their realm, but here in the Realm of Light, the darkness would have stronger influence on them, so if I tried to summon them while in the castle, they could end up distorted into nightmares. There's no way I'm putting my Dream Eaters in that kind of danger," Moira finished.

"You really care for your Dream Eaters, don't you?" Lucille smiled.

"Well duh, I'm not that cruel. Do I really come off that cold-hearted to you?"

"That really wasn't what I meant." Lucille shook her head. She then looked at Chi. "Will you be okay, Chi? You're a Dream Eater too, right?"

"Never fear, Lady Lucille! My natural resistance to darkness itself is much higher than the usual Dream Eater. After all, we were meant to be partners to our Keyblade wielders," Chi reassured.

"Well anyway, there's some good news and bad news. Bad news: the Heartless are multiplying by the second and they're using the keyhole of this world as their means to seep into other worlds, so if you want to stop those pests from getting any stronger and prevent other worlds from getting invaded by these guys, you better get those keyblades of yours ready to lock that keyhole for good," Moira started.

"And...the good news?" Aster pressed.

"That Ion guy isn't gone, not yet. He's lost his physical human form, but there's no mistake, I can still tell he's there. There must be something that's preventing the final stage of corruption."

"Then we still have a chance. All we need to do is just get inside his heart to do what needs to be done," Florian told Moira.

"Yeah, that's good and all, but you need to get pass the horde of Heartless that's blocking the way to the keyhole first, and there's a LOT of them." Moira rolled her eyes.

"They're guarding the keyhole?" Sora questioned.

"Why would they do that, though?" Goofy asked.

"Never thought I'd hear the goof utter a good question, heck if I know." Moira shrugged. "I have an idea what might be happening, though. There's someone or something with a stronger presence that's giving the Heartless orders to guard the keyhole," Moira theorized.

"Do you think it's Maleficent?" Lucille wondered.

"Not a chance. We saw Maleficent turn into a black pile of goo with our own eyes. That evil fairy is dead as far as I'm aware." Oswald shook his head.

"What about that Ansem feller?" Goofy suggested.

"Nope, he hasn't showed up since your little showdown with him. And I've been observing the situation waiting for you folks to show up," Moira shot down immediately.

"Well, we can't just stand here, we need to do something. Let's go." Lucille felt more motivated than ever to get inside the castle.

Moira called back her Meow Wow before dismissing the benevolent creature back into the dream realm.

"Well, what are ya waiting for? An invite? Let's march in there before there's nothing left to save," Moira barked.

Wasting no more time, they charged towards Hollow Bastion's castle, taking down every Heartless that came to attack them.

* * *

Once arriving at the royal library on their way to the keyhole's chamber, they saw a young woman in a regal yellow dress, looking at the shelves of the upper floor. She turned around when she heard footsteps coming near.

"Belle!" Beast was the first to approach and embrace the young woman, who returned it.

"So this must be the one that Beast was fighting so hard to rescue. Makes me think of my darling Ortensia." Oswald smiled.

"Aw, that's so romantic~ I think I remember reading a fairytale like that once," Lucille swooned.

"Wow, you are such a girl." Zen rolled his eyes.

"But Lucille IS a girl." Florian tilted his head innocently.

"Ah, such child-like innocence. That isn't quite what claw boy meant," Moira teased, poking Florian's cheek playfully.

Aster gave a mischievous smile at Zen. "Like you're one to talk, Zen~ You-"

"Aster, prince or no, if you even utter a single word about that, I will smite you with this claw, I swear," Zen warned.

"Pfft, you're no fun. You do know smiting your future ruler is regicide, right?" Aster scoffed.

"It's bad enough with her finding out, I don't need anyone else knowing," Zen withered, pointing an accusing finger at Lucille.

Sora, Donald and Goofy only looked lost and confused about the whole conversation.

"So, you've come to seal the keyhole, right? Please be careful. The darkness is raging deep inside. We've been holding it back, but we can't hold out much longer." The young woman known as Belle spoke to them in a kind and gentle voice.

"We'll take care of it," Sora reassured Belle.

"Oh, one more thing, if you see the boy from before again, can you tell him thank you from all of us? Although we were imprisoned in this castle against our will, the guardian of this world gave us courage and strength that someone would come to save us. And he was right. He's still fighting, but his light is very faint now. Please save him," Belle asked kindly.

"Ion..."

"It sounds like we're on less time than I thought. We need to move," Oswald told everyone to motivate them.

They left the library to continue their upward climb to where their main destination was.

* * *

After what felt like a long climb, including fighting any Heartless that tried to bar their way, they arrived in the large circular room that they had recognized almost instantly upon entering.

"Finally! Man, I knew this place was crawling with those icky things. I didn't think it got this bad, though," Moira cried out in relief. She kept her choice of weapon, a pack of tarot cards on hand ready, just in case they had to react quickly to fight again.

"Hey, is that who I think it is?" Lucille ran forwards to see all the remaining five Princesses of Heart finally awakened. She recognized two of them right away. "Alice, Jasmine!"

"Oh, you're Lucille, aren't you? The one that Chi told me about when you were fighting Jafar." Jasmine turned in Lucille's direction and greeted her.

"Oh my, it's been so long! What brings you here?" Alice added.

"We're here to lock the keyhole for good," Lucille answered.

"Oh, I see! This is excellent timing indeed. We've been trying our best to hold back the darkness coming from that keyhole, but I'm afraid we won't be able to hold it back for much longer," Alice informed her.

Lucille nodded. "Right, we'll take care of it."

"Can I ask something, if that's alright? How is my father? Your small friend, Chi, also mentioned that you were the ones who helped rescue him from the dungeons. I can't thank you enough."

"Don't worry, your father is fine. He is very worried about you, though."

"Father..." Jasmine brought a hand to her chest.

"Anyway, don't mention it. I have to wonder, though, why didn't Jafar just sic a Heartless on him if we wanted him out of the way?"

"He wanted to take over Agrabah himself, so he might have wanted to humiliate my father publicly before getting rid of him," Jasmine suggested.

"I see. Good thing he won't bother you or your father again."

Jasmine smiled, "Even so, thank you again for helping him."

Lucille felt Luma tug on her jacket and she turned to face the small Seraph girl.

"Lucille, we need to hurry, we don't have much time left."

"Right, take care of yourselves." Lucille nodded and waved to the two princesses, who both waved back.

"Okay, this is it. Once we go in there, we won't be leaving until we lock that keyhole. So y'all ready for this?" Oswald turned to face everyone.

Everyone nodded in agreement at this.

"I have to ask, though, what's the grand plan with your guardian pal? He's lost his human form and taken on a Heartless one. He might even be the one we'll have to fight," Moira declared.

"That's where Flo and I come in. We're going to go into Ion's heart and use that union arte that will banish the darkness from him," Lucille answered.

"Uh huh. And how are you going to get inside that said heart? Even if it's still in there in his Heartless form, he'll be busy trying to kill us."

"Um... yeah about that," Lucille started before she summoned both the Lux Arma and Ava's keyblade into each of her hands. "I kinda got an upgrade."

"My sister's got a keyblade too?!" Sora jumped back.

"How the heck did ya get one, Lucille? I don't remember any time during our journey together where you obtained one," Oswald then asked.

"Uhhh..." Lucille wasn't quite sure how to explain how she acquired a keyblade of her own. She didn't even know how she was going to tell Oswald the truth about Ava and Gula yet.

"Does that really matter right now? We haven't got time for questions," Zen intervened.

"Thanks, that was close," Lucille whispered.

"We'll have to tell Oswald the truth when we're alone with him, though. He's going to figure it out on his own eventually," Zen responded quietly.

"Uh huh." Oswald looked doubtful but shrugged. "Well, I guess you're right. That can wait for later. Either way, that keyblade will help you get inside his heart, but remember what I told ya-entering the domain of another person's heart is very risky to both the owner and the one intruding. As soon as you get inside, you'll most likely be treated as a threat, so be very careful in there."

Lucille nodded at Oswald's warning.

Steeling themselves for what awaited them beyond, they climbed the small stairs and entered through the keyhole, bracing themselves for the darkness that waited inside.

* * *

The void they found themselves in was a hue of all dark colours and the very walls of this place seemed to flow backwards rather than forwards.

"...Where's the Heartless?" Moira wondered out loud.

As if answering her call, a large behemoth Heartless, transparent at first, started to solidify and stomp its way towards them.

"Don't tell me...this is what became of Ion?" Aster couldn't believe that this was the Heartless form their friend had taken now that his human form had been lost.

"No doubt about it. This is our guy." Moira pulled out her tarot cards. "Keep your guard up, he's not your friend now. Right now his Heartless is running amok. He won't hesitate to attack if we go further."

"This must be the Heartless that's calling the shots. If we get rid of him, the rest will probably run off to regroup," Oswald clicked.

"Then we'll just keep him busy!" Sora got his keyblade armed and ready.

"Lucille, Florian. There's some sort of barrier around that Heartless that prevents intervention from Keyblade wielders. This Heartless must be channeling Ion's magic to create it. I can dispel it for a brief time, but I can't remove it completely. You'll have one shot to get inside," Luma informed them.

"Right, so we'll have to use 'Deep Dive' as soon it breaks down the first time," Florian understood.

'Ava, I'll be counting on you,' Lucille mentally told Ava.

 _"Yes, I'll call out as soon as I can tell Luma's arte has succeeded. You remember how to use Deep Dive as I instructed you, right?"_

 _'Don't worry, I remember. Besides, we only get one shot at this so I gotta get it right,'_ Lucille reassured Ava.

"Like Sora said, we'll distract the Heartless. You worry about the timing of your 'Deep Dive'. If what the kid here says is right, you can't afford to make a mistake."

"Be careful, alright? Don't get yourself killed," Zen told her.

Lucille blinked before smiling, "Who do you think you're talking to? Flo and I got this."

"Look, that must be the keyhole behind it!" Donald pointed to behind the Behemoth, and indeed a keyhole was there, there for all to see as if it was a prize to be won.

"Let's worry about the big problem facing us here first, duck. The keyhole's no good to us if we're all dead!" Moira scolded.

"Okay, let's do this!" Sora charged first, followed by Donald and Goofy.

"Stay close to Luma!" Oswald told Lucille before he followed behind Zen and Aster, who had also charged in.

"Florian, think you can cast a few artes to help?" Lucille turned to Florian.

Florian nodded and threw a chain of enchanted paper charms towards the large Behemoth. "Binding chains!"

With that, blinding white chains appeared and wrapped themselves around the large paws of the behemoth. It roared in anger as its movement was halted.

"Ugh! This Heartless is really strong-! I don't know how long I can keep him pinned," Florian warned. He almost felt his grip on the Behemoth slip for a moment before regaining control. The Behemoth was far stronger than any Heartless they had faced yet.

"Luma, better work fast with that dispel arte of yours," Lucille told the snow-haired seraph.

"Yes, I'll be as fast as I can." Luma nodded earnestly and quickly started to focus her magic into her powerful arte. A magic circle appeared below the seraph girl as she continued to chant the incantation and charge the spell as fast as her ability would allow.

Meanwhile, two groups were formed in order to keep the Behemoth distracted and focused on them rather than Lucille, Florian, Luma and Chi.

Aster quickly used his lance as a means to quickly jump on to the Behemoth's back. He saw the horn nearby and wondered if that was a weak spot of the beast. He felt bad for doing this since this was still technically Ion, but...

"I'm really sorry about this, Ion." With that, he pierced his lance right into the horn that was surprisingly more penetrable than he thought.

The Behemoth cried out in pain and tried to shake Aster off. Keeping the lance firmly stuck in the Heartless's head, he used it as a means to prevent getting thrown off the Heartless.

"Be careful up there, Aster!" Zen shouted out to him before he turned behind him to see a swarm of Heartless making their way towards them.

"I guess the main boss decided to call for back up."

"Guess so." Zen's claw grew in size and, as one of the small Heartless got closer, he swiped it up with his claw, which drained all the darkness from the Heartless itself, evaporating it into mist.

"Outta the way!" He then fired a volley of dark fireballs at the other Heartless, taking out the weaker ones instantly while only slightly harming the stronger ones.

Oswald used his keyblade to swipe and cleanly cut through the Heartless in a flurry of quick and fast movements thanks to his small size and quick speed.

Aster was still managing to keep himself on top of the Behemoth despite its best attempts to throw him off. "Ion, can't you recognize us? We're trying to help you!"

The Behemoth roared in response but turned his gaze elsewhere after being struck with a spell by Moira. It didn't seem to affect the Heartless, though. It seemed more like a nuisance.

"Aw damn it, that didn't work," Moira grumbled as she quickly flicked through her cards to find a spell that would be effective on the Heartless. "This would be so much easier if I had my Dream Eaters with me!"

The Behemoth tried to approach the witch but thanks to Florian's chains, it still couldn't move anywhere. It tried once again to try and snap the chains off, but Florian managed to keep control over the arte, although barely.

"Dispelga!" Luma casted the arte and fired it towards where the Heartless emblem was on the chest of the Behemoth. A magic circle flew across the room and secured itself on the Heartless. With a flash of light, the dark beast groaned and a barrier that had previously been invisible shattered like glass.

 _"Lucille! Now's your chance!"_ Ava signaled to Lucille.

"Alright, Florian, get ready!" Lucille pointed the keyblade towards the behemoth.

Florian nodded and turned to Luma. "Thank you, Luma. Chi, keep her safe."

"Leave it to me, Lord Florian. Protect Lady Lucille!" Chi saluted.

Florian had no choice but to release the arte and swiftly transformed into a ball of light before entering Lucille's heart.

"Ready or not, Ion. Here we come!" Lucille warned as she initated the Deep Dive just as Ava told her. The tip of the Keyblade began to form a beam of light that was fired straight into the Behemoth's chest.

The chains that had previously kept the Heartless pinned down in one spot were broken and it tried to charge towards Lucille, but Aster sunk the lance deeper into the behemoth's horn to distract it and concentrate its efforts on him.

"Your fight is with us!"

The next thing Lucille knew, she was transported from the battle and plunged headfirst into the depths of Ion's heart that lurked within the Behemoth Heartless.

* * *

Lucille found herself freefalling in the void of darkness. Florian soon popped out of her heart again and joined her in their long fall downwards.

"You holding up okay, Flo?" Lucille asked the seraph boy.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I hope the others are alright out there. Hey, I think I can see Ion's sanctuary below us." Florian told her, pointing to what looked like a stained-glass platform almost covered in darkness in the form of thick vines that seemed to almost smother the whole platform.

As they gently landed on their feet, they looked around their surroundings.

"This is...Ion's heart?"

"So it seems. His heart is in a terrible state, but I suppose ten years of corruption can do that to a Seraph's heart." Florian shivered. The atmosphere and aura this place was giving off felt so cold and devoid of any life. To think this could happen to any of his kin. Was this what so many other Seraphim had to suffer when they lost their hearts and minds during the keyblade war?

"Why...?" They heard Ion's quiet and very frail voice. They looked in front of them to see Ion there, or at least, what was left of Ion.

Unlike the more intimidating Behemoth outside, it seems Ion's true form as a Heartless was almost the size of a human with long bolt shaped attennas.

"Why are you here? Didn't I already tell you before? You can't save me. The only thing you can do now is just kill me."

"We can't do that, Ion. We won't give up on you, not now. You have so many people who want to see you again."

"You must be mistaken. There's nothing for me to go back to...I was a guardian that no one believed existed, a fable. I wasn't even strong enough to protect it when my world needed me the most. I'm not worthy of being saved and no one would even care if I disappeared."

"Don't say that! That's not true at all!" Lucille shook her head. What was wrong with Ion? He didn't sound this negative before.

"Lucille, I think the darkness is influencing not only his mind but his memories as well. We must be hearing all of Ion's doubts and fears, everything that he has ever bottled up and kept hidden away inside of him. We need something to remind him who he really is."

"That's right, Sora mentioned that when he was trapped in the darkness when he became a Heartless, he felt his memories being stripped away from him. That must be why Ion's corruption hasn't been completed yet." Lucille's mind raced as she recalled what Sora had told her and Kairi on their way to Traverse Town.

There must be a clue somewhere they could use to remind Ion. Looking up, she noticed something that Ion was still holding in his hand, clutching it even, as if he was desperately clinging onto a memory.

"Ion? What's that in your hand?" Lucille asked.

Ion seemed confused as well and raised his hand to see the small worn wayfinder there. "This necklace...Where have I seen it before? Why...does my chest hurt looking at it?"

"You know it, don't you? Your heart hurts because you know that thing is really important to you. So important that you refuse to throw it away even if you don't remember how you got it! That's because even if you don't recall it, your heart does!" Florian nodded.

"My...heart? I have a heart?" Ion questioned. It was like he was challenging himself.

"Ion, don't you remember Zen? Or even Aster and Kairi? They were humans from Hall-no-Radiant Garden that you cherished so much you wanted to protect this world for them. You fought the darkness all alone for ten long years! But Zen never forgot you or even gave up on you."

"You're not a failure of a guardian. Try to remember! Remember who you were before, remember what it is that drove you so hard to protect this world!" Lucille did her best to jog his memory.

"...Zen...Aster...Kairi...Lord Ansem...Queen Tia..." Ion stared at the wayfinder that was made with child-like hands. The pieces of his memory that he had forgotten he had to begin with began to click back together.

"I...I remember! This was a present that the children made for me. How could I have almost forgotten that?"

"I think we did it!" Florian cheered. It would appear that he'd cheered too soon, as they saw Ion began to cry out in pain.

"Ion! What's wrong?!"

Ion fell to his knees and was encased in a black cocoon. A few minutes after, the cocoon of darkness moved away from Ion, leaving the Ion they knew now completely in his human form once again. He didn't even have the Heartless features that Lucille had seen on him when they had first met. This must have been what Ion truly looked like ten years before.

The cocoon of darkness, however, took the form of a Heartless of Ion's likeness. There was not even a shred of goodness or warmth anywhere in that Heartless.

"You! This is all you fault! I was so close to completely claiming his heart after ten years of eating away at his memories and that infernal light of his and you had to come in and ruin it!"

"I...get it now. You must be..." Ion groaned but slowly managed to pull himself up.

"You think you've won? How very wrong you are. You won't leave this place alive! You'll be smothered in the darkness along with this Seraph!"

"Oh no you don't!" Ion quickly got to his feet and grabbed hold of the Heartless being from behind.

"Let go of me, you wretched Seraph!"

"You two! Use your arte now! I can't hold on to this Heartless forever," Ion told them.

"But-! The union arte was only meant to banish the darkness, if you're too close you might-" Florian panicked.

"I believe in you. Whatever happens to me...At least take this Heartless down with me!" Ion reassured them while keeping a strong grip on the Heartless.

"Florian...what do we do?" Lucille asked Florian.

"Everyone's counting on us. Let's believe Ion on this," Florian answered.

Lucille sighed deeply and nodded. "Florian, let's go and activate the pact's power like Master Merlin told us."

"On it." Florian went back inside Lucille's heart and initiated the Seraphim Pact's true power. The ability to allow their chosen to harness full control over the Seraph's power. In this case, Lucille now had power of all Florian's magic. The proof of their bond changed her brunette hair to blonde like Florian's. Not only that, but she also gained an armour of light that gleamed almost like ivory.

"Ooh, this is so cool! So this is what Master Merlin was talking about when he was teaching us." Lucille was overwhelmed with amazement. "Wait, what happened to my clothes? And my hair?!"

"This is the true power of what a Seraphim Pact is capable of. Just as Merlin taught us. He called it 'Union Drive Form'," Florian recalled.

"Gah, I guess now's not the time for questions. Let's cast that arte, Ion won't be able to hold that Heartless down for much longer." Lucille shook her head and focused her attention on their main goal. She focused both her magic and Florian's into the union arte that Florian had been taught. She felt the magic surge through her as she focused all of it into the Lux Arma. It glowed in a soft blue light as the union arte grew in power.

"No! Let me go! I don't want to disappear!"

Even Ion was taken by surprise at the Heartless' surprisingly geninue cry of fear, but he wouldn't falter now. He wouldn't let anyone else get hurt anymore. He won't let Radiant Garden die.

Lucille was also surprised by this. It almost made her lose her focus until Florian snapped her back.

"Lucille, don't lose control of the arte!"

"Ah right, sorry!" Lucille brought her attention back into the union arte. "Please let this work..."

She felt the union arte reach its peak. "Lucille, the arte's ready. Cast it now!" Florian signaled.

"Right. 'Sacred light of the divine, grant us your judgement and give this soul peaceful respite so that they may greet the new dawn anew.' Radiant Dawn!" Lucille finished the last incantation needed and slammed the Lux Arma into the stained-glass platform below them. A burst of overwhelming light engulfed not only Ion and his Heartless but the entire platform as well.

* * *

"-ady Lucille! Lady Lucille! Please open your eyes!"

"Sis, can you hear us?"

Lucille groaned at the familiar voices of Chi and Sora, which called out for her in the blanket of darkness that covered her eyes.

"Hey, I think she's coming around!"

"Oh, thank goodness!"

Once she regained enough of her senses, she slowly fluttered her eyes open, pushing herself up using her elbows to prop her up. She found the group outside the keyhole, but from the relaxed state of everyone, it looked like the keyhole was now sealed up for good. She must have missed it. She saw that Sora, Chi, Luma, even Donald and Goofy were there.

"You're okay, Sis! You had us worried when you and Florian were thrown out of that Behemoth's chest."

"What...?" It took a few seconds more for her mind to reboot. She recalled the whole event that happened instantly. "Ah! That's right! Is Florian okay?! What about Ion?"

"I'm alright, Lucille. We couldn't retain our drive form for too long it seems. I guess that union arte literally took everything out of us," Florian contemplated, smiling while sitting beside her.

Lucille sighed in relief. "That's good. I'm glad. What about Ion? Did we pull it off?" Lucille asked.

Moira walked over to them with her hands carefreely placed behind her head. "Why don't you take a look yourself?"

Lucille slowly stood up along with Florian to see that not far from where they were, Zen, Aster and Oswald were watching over an unconscious Ion. He looked much better than before. He no longer had any of the Heartless features that she had first seen. He looked like a normal person now, although she did notice how his hair was no longer blonde but pure white like Luma's, but a single highlight of yellow remained unchanged.

"How is he?" Lucille called out to them as she walked over.

"You sure know how to give people heart attacks! For a moment I thought you were badly hurt, or worse, dead!" Zen scolded.

"Well, that's a fine way to say hello." Lucille puffed out her cheeks.

"That's just his way of saying he cares," Aster teased with a wink.

"As for Ion, well, good news is that he's fine. Probably exhausted both mentally and physically, but he's alive," Oswald informed her.

"Then...it worked. It worked! Florian, the union arte worked! We did it!" Lucille jumped for joy.

"I'm so glad! Lord Yggdrasil will be so pleased! So, Lord Ion will be okay now, right?"

"That reminds me, I wanted to thank you both. You guys really went out of your way to save him. Kinda makes me feel like a failure, though. I couldn't even do anything for him," Zen lamented.

"Actually, you and Aster did help. Kairi too!" Lucille smiled.

"We...did?" Aster blinked.

"He had a necklace with him. It was the trigger that helped us to bring Ion back from being completely lost to the darkness."

"You mean that wayfinder that we made as children? He...still had it all this time?" Zen's eyes widened in realization.

"Is that what it's called? Whatever it did, it sure helped to remind Ion of what it was that he had fought all that time for."

"I see..."

"So you guys did help in a huge way!" Florian earnestly told them. "I...can't get over that Heartless that took on Lord Ion's likeness. It was very different from the other Heartless we've seen before."

"No kidding. It actually sounded scared when we were casting the arte to banish it, but...I thought Heartless couldn't really feel anything since they don't have hearts."

"Yes, that's what I thought too." Florian nodded.

"That's not the only thing that's odd," Moira spoke up as the others came over as well.

"It's not? I don't follow."

"What did that Union Arte do exactly? Because for some reason, not only Zen can see Ion now, but even these two bozos," Moira asked pointing to both Donald and Goofy.

"Who are you calling a bozo, lady?!" Donald snapped at the witch.

"Wait...everyone can see Ion, even those who usually can't see Seraphim?" Florian blinked.

"Yeah, that's...actually a little weird. I shouldn't be able to see Seraphim. I can hear them just fine, but I lost my sight thanks to that psychopath."

"But then how..."

"I think I have a theory," Moira brought up a finger to gain everyone's attention. "We know that Seraphim are beings of light and Heartless are literally the creatures born out of the darkness, right?"

"Well, what happens when light and dark collide and merge together?" Moira asked.

"I think...I can answer that." Ion's voice made them all turn to see him, putting himself into a sitting position on the ground, still obviously weak from everything that had happened.

"Ion! You're awake! What a relief." Zen bent down to Ion's level, who was still sitting upright.

"Zen, it really has been such a long time since we were able to face each other like this. I'm sorry for causing so much trouble for you all."

"No kidding. I can't believe you even tried to convince us to kill you. You know there's no way we could ever agree to that," Zen scoffed.

"Heh heh. I know. I honestly thought that killing me would be the most merciful act you could have done. I never thought that I'd still be standing here if you guys had given into my request. I'm not going to lie, I'm actually kind of glad that you chose to not listen to me." Ion smiled softly.

"Anyway...Ion, what do you mean you know the answer to what happened to you? You're okay now, right? How can Donald and Goofy see you, though? They don't have the sight like everyone else does."

"Well...to put it very bluntly...I don't think I'm a Seraph anymore," Ion told him.

"I thought so. So my theory was right." Moira grinned victoriously. "Looks like our friend is now a literal human."

Zen blinked a few times, trying to process the news. "What?"

"It's just as your friend said. It seems that the collision of light and dark together fused together to remake my heart anew, and thus, my body matched my new form."

"So...the union arte didn't banish the darkness inside you?" Florian questioned.

"No, however, I have managed to trap that darkness within me. It will never hurt anyone again, so long as I keep my heart in balance. And trust me, I spent ten years in that darkness to perfectly know how to keep it at bay for the rest of my life."

"That's...good, right?" Sora asked.

"Oh certainly. To be honest, this is something I only ever dreamed of having. I'm sure Lord Yggdrasil would say otherwise, but you know...I actually kind of like my new form. I'll miss being able to use my seraphic artes but considering the other choices were my death or eternal damnation as a Heartless, it's a small price I'll gladly pay."

"So you're a real human now, like me and Zen?" Aster summarized.

"Yes." Ion nodded.

"That's so awesome! Ha! I can't wait to show you to everyone. They'll be so surprised!" Aster cheered.

"Interesting. So don't lament your fate?" Moira pressed

"I'm fully aware of the price of mortality. One day I will eventually grow old and die." Ion nodded. "In truth, though, this was secretly what I had wanted all this time. Funny it took only recently for me to realize this was my true wish."

"You wanted to become human? That was your wish?" Florian asked curiously.

Ion nodded. "It was so long ago that I had forgotten it. I was previously a flower that grew in the gardens of this world. The more I saw the humans that would roam the gardens-how they lived, loved, laughed in the good times and cried in the bad times—the more I grew...fascinated with them. I wanted to live among them."

"I see...So I guess being a Seraph kinda sucked for you since only a handful of us could see you," Zen figured.

"I don't regret my life as a Seraph, if that's what you mean, but...I had come to love and care for the people of this world, and it hurt...when people labeled my existence as a legend at best. While I understood Lord Yggdrasil's fears of me becoming too engrossed with my fascination with the mortals, I couldn't stop myself from caring about them. Sorry, I must sound like such an overprotective parent."

"That Heartless...I think that darkness had always been lurking inside me. It was the manifestation of all my doubts and fears given physical form. That's probably why it sounded more genuine coming from that heartless. That heartless was the me that I didn't want to see and couldn't bring myself to accept. That man who experimented on me only just brought it out from hiding, and it became a force of its own. It almost overwhelmed me. It would have if you two hadn't pulled off that miracle arte of yours."

"Wait, Seraphim are meant to be beings of light, right? You're saying that we could form our own darkness from inside us and never notice it? Could it...happen to me too?" Florian looked worried.

"Don't worry, little one. You will never have that problem, I already know. I was a fool who tried to run away from my problems instead of facing them and gave up all hope without even trying to find another way. You have a kind and good heart, Florian. Perhaps that is why Lord Yggdrasil trusted you with that union arte. You gave me back not only my life but reminded me that there is always another way so long as you never give up looking for it." Ion shook his head.

"Wow, that's really insightful," Aster whistled.

"Heh heh, listen to me sound like an old man. I totally don't look my age at all. Not that I mind being given a teenage body." Ion laughed.

"It's good to see Ion looking so happy." Lucille beamed.

"Ya telling me, I'd say he doesn't miss being a Seraph at all." Oswald shrugged.

"What matters is that we spared him from the same fate that doomed the past Seraphim during the Keyblade War, and we proved that Lord Yggdrasil's arte worked. I say that's a victory regardless," Florian chirped.

"I'm with Florian. The important thing is that Ion's safe now. Maybe the union arte didn't exactly do what we thought would happen, but I'd say this was a much better outcome."

"Yup." Florian nodded.

"Oh! That's right!" Sora recalled and approached Ion. "I heard from my sister that you saved her when she was kidnapped and brought here. I want to thank you for that."

Ion shook his head. "You don't need to thank me. As guardian, anyone who lives, visits or is brought to this world comes under my protection, with the exception of Maleficent and her cronies who made this castle their hideout, of course."

That was when it dawned on the former seraph guardian, "Oh that's right-I'm technically out of the job now. Now that you have locked away the keyhole to this world, there's no need for a guardian," Ion realized.

"Ah, I wouldn't worry about that." Aster winked. "I think I can find something for you once we start rebuilding this world. If we work together, we can make this world even better than it was before. I just know it."

Ion blinked once before smiling. "I'd be delighted to help, if you will accept me."

"Pfft, why ask when you already know my answer to that?" Aster rolled his eyes.

"Um, Lord Ion...your hair..." Luma pointed out how Ion's hair was no longer blonde, but pure white with a single highlight of blonde that remained of his previous colour.

Ion smiled kindly at the small seraph girl. "I'll get over it. It's not a bad colour. If it were pink, that'd be a different story entirely."

That reminded Lucille to check her own hair, only to see that it had gone back to her chocolate brown colour. "Oh good, it changed back. I wonder why it turned blond during that Union Drive thing?"

"Hmm...Maybe it's just a side effect," Florian wondered thoughtfully. "I wonder if it changes colour depending on the Seraph?"

"But what do we do now? We saved this world, but that crazy Ansem guy is still around," Donald asked, bringing up a topic that indeed was worth thinking about.

"Donald's got a point. We need to find him and stop him." Zen crossed his arms and went deep in thought.

"...I might have an idea." Ion gave it some thought before an idea of where they could go struck him.

* * *

They headed to the library, wanting a change of scenery since there was no need to stay in the old keyhole's chamber anymore. The Princesses of Heart were also moved to a safe location in the castle just in the case of any lingering Heartless in the area. When they arrived there, they didn't expect to also find Leon, Aerith, Yuffie and Cid.

"Huh? Why are these guys here?"

Sora laughed sheepishly. "This happened while you were still unconscious."

"Uh, Aster, how did you manage with your talk with Leon? You know...about the whole 'running away' thing?" Lucille asked the future ruler of this world.

"Oh, trust me, he gave me the worst lecture I **ever** had to suffer through. I'm glad you weren't awake to hear it." Aster shivered at the memory.

"And who's fault is that?" Leon grumbled. Aster stuck his tongue out at Leon in response.

"Heh heh, Aster, that's not very leader like." Aerith softly laughed.

"Not technically the ruler of this world yet. We still got a long way to go rebuilding this place before we can even think about that." Aster smiled softly.

"Say, who's the new kid over there?" Yuffie pointed to Ion, who sheepishly hid behind Zen.

Zen couldn't help but feel nostalgic at this, so he knew exactly what to do. He moved slightly to the side and nudged Ion forward.

"H-hey, Zen!" Ion blushed lightly.

"Don't worry, these guys are the best people you could start off with. You'll hit it off fine," Zen encouraged.

"Oh, that's right, I'd like you to meet-"

"You're Ion, our Guardian, right?" Aerith smiled brightly.

"...Okay, so much for a proper introduction." Aster shrugged.

"I remember you four...You were cornered by some Heartless and that man there was protecting you the best he could with that makeshift weapon," Ion recalled where he had seen these four before.

"That's right, and you used one of your spells to take down a number of them, allowing us to escape," Aerith finished, remembering fondly.

"No way, you were there the whole time?!" Yuffie gaped with her mouth wide open.

"Huh, I wondered how those little buggers died all at once when I didn't even touch 'em," Cid clicked. "So there really was a guardian after all. Guess it wasn't just an ol' legend after all."

"I'm sorry, I wasn't strong enough to protect this world the first time around," Ion apologized, bowing in respect.

"..." Leon sighed. "Well, it wasn't like we did a better job either. I guess I have to apologize. I was one of those doubters who didn't think you existed. How come we can see you now, though?"

Ion shook his head. "Well, you're not entirely wrong. I'm no longer a Seraph. Due to some...complicated circumstances, my body has changed into that of a mortal now, thus it would make sense for anyone to see me," Ion explained.

"So that explains it." Aerith nodded in understanding.

"Awww, you're not a Seraph anymore? That sucks. I was hoping you'd teach me some of those awesome spells that only Seraphim know. You know, to give my ninja skills that extra kick, ya know?" Yuffie pouted.

"You believe me? But...I have nothing to prove my role as this world's guardian." Ion looked surprised that they easily believed he was previously a Seraph.

"There's no way you would have known about what happened to us during the attack unless you were there. That's all the proof I need," Leon started. "Besides, Aerith clearly remembers you, and she's no liar," He then added.

"Guardian or not, ya saved our hides back then. That puts ya in my good books already," Cid also stated.

"I remember that day you saved us. I could never forget that nor how grateful I am to you," Aerith kindly answered.

"I...Thank you."

* * *

Leon and the others from Traverse Town went back to checking the library for anything that could help them. Lucille and their group talked amongst themselves with Ion.

"See? Told you you guys would hit it off," Zen told Ion with a smug look.

"This is like a total reverse of when we first met." Ion chuckled.

"I'm surprised that you played a role in saving them during the attack. I can't tell if that's fate or not."

"Who can say? Maybe it was in fate's design or just pure dumb luck," Moira answered.

"Moira, do you know where this Ansem could be?"

"Hmmm...I dunno, that's kinda borderline classified stuff. I can't tell you what you're not meant to know."

"What do you mean? We need to find that crazy loon before he goes destroying any other worlds! Don't you care about that?" Zen argued.

Moira sighed. "Fine. Master Matoya is probably gonna chew me out, but I guess I can give you a lead."

"Master Matoya? You know one of the Elder Seraphs? The guardian of Memoria herself-she's a legend among the Seraphim." Ion was amazed by this.

"I don't just know her. I'm proud to call myself her apprentice," Moira proudly boasted.

"Strange, why would Master Matoya take on a mortal apprentice? Wouldn't Lord Yggdrasil be against that?" Ion wondered.

"Ah details, details~ Who needs them?" Moira sang in a sing-tone tone.

"Uh, what's Memoria?" Goofy pointed out.

"Oh, that's right! I'm sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned it," Ion apologized in a whisper.

Moira paled at the question. "Ahahaha...N-nothing for you to worry about. It's just another world that I come from, nothing big. You won't find your king there, so don't bother looking for it."

"Why not? Can't we just visit it and see it for ourselves?" Donald asked.

"NO!" Moira cried out in a panic before coughing to recover her composure. "Out of the question. Memoria's off-limits even to Keyblade Masters."

"...But why?" Sora questioned.

Moira groaned. "Look, I just can't tell you, okay? The only thing I can tell you is it's a very special world that must be kept safe at all costs."

Lucille remembered the promise they made to Matoya to keep Memoria a secret when they crashed and found that world by pure accident. So she remained silent about it.

"So special that you can't tell anyone about it?" Sora wondered.

"It's a world unlike any other you have visited. It plays a special role in preserving something important. Only the Seraphim and a few special mortals that Master Matoya trusts fully know of it," Ion tried to explain without revealing too much.

"Needless to say, if that Heartless goon found out about it, he'd take great joy in corrupting it and if that happens it could be disastrous for countless worlds," Moira added.

"I get it now. You can't tell anyone about it because you don't want someone like Ansem finding it and doing the exact thing he did to Hallow Bastion," Sora clicked.

"Exactly, so can we drop it now?" Moira crossed her arms.

"So, where would our target be if not there?"

"Like I said before, I think I may know the answer. Unless Miss Moira here would like to reveal it herself?" Ion spoke up.

"Nope. By all means, stage's all yours. If I can get away without breaking the observer code, knock yourself out." Moira shook her head quickly.

"Oh, that's right. I understand." Ion understood what Moira was implying. "Well, in that case," Ion turned to face everyone else, "If I had to guess where this 'Ansem' has run off to, it must be deep into the Realm of Darkness," Ion told them.

"The Realm of Darkness? But why go there?" Florian asked.

"There is a door known as the 'Door to Darkness'. It connects to the Realm of Darkness itself. If he opens that door and merges the two realms together, it will make the Heartless that spawned from this keyhole look like a joke in comparison."

"In other words, it would be the literal end of everything we know. There would be no way for us to contain all those Heartless. The Realm of Darkness is infested with them. Releasing them from that door would be like summoning the apocalypse."

"Gwarsh, that sounds really bad." Goofy gulped.

"From what you told me, he desires nothing more than to smother all the worlds in darkness. If he intended to do that, opening that door would be the best way to do it." Luma nodded.

"Why would you even have a door like that to begin with? That's really stupid!" Donald quacked loudly.

"I don't know. I don't think even Lord Yggdrasil knows why that door exists. He only told us that we should never allow it to open," Ion answered.

"We can seal the keyhole, though, right?" Sora suggested.

"Yes, but one keyblade is not enough. You need a keyblade of light and a keyblade of darkness. Two keys, two hearts," Ion reasoned.

 _'Wait...didn't Dad mention something similar to this to Sora and me a long time ago? How did he know this?!'_ Lucille clicked as a distant memory played in her mind, recalling what their father had told them when he gave the crown necklace to Sora and the heart-shaped necklace to her.

 _"But that's impossible...your father is from Destiny Islands, isn't he?"_ Ava sounded just as surprised.

'That's what confuses me, Ava. Wait...Could Dad have come from...?' Lucille thought of something that never crossed her mind before until now. What if their father really wasn't from Destiny Islands originally? Could he have washed up in this world just like Kairi did?

Lucille then shook her head of her thoughts. _'No, maybe I'm overthinking it. Dad wouldn't keep something that important from us...would he?'_

"Well, Sora and I have got keyblades and Lucille, too. So, we have three," Oswald countered.

"You still need a keyblade of darkness. The only way you'll find one of those is if you go into the Realm of Darkness and find the opposite of the key that was forged in the light."

"Wonderful, so we have to go on a keyblade hunt before we can even take on this guy? No wonder no one had the bright idea to lock this door away before it became a serious problem." Zen crossed his arms in annoyance.

"Actually, you may not have to look far for one. Sora, Lucille, you said you came from a place called Destiny Islands, correct?"

Sora and Lucille nodded silently.

"If my theory is right: if that keyblade Sora wields right now was forged on that island, its counterpart should be somewhere in the remains of Destiny Islands in the Realm of Darkness. If you can find it, you can use both keys to seal that door forever and it will never pose a threat to this realm ever again," Ion told them.

"If we find this keyblade and lock the door to darkness, can we restore Destiny Islands and all the other worlds that lost their hearts with it?" Florian asked, looking hopeful.

"Well, if you close the door to darkness for good, the worlds that had been plunged into the Realm of Darkness should be restored to their original form, back to the way they were before they were lost to the darkness."

Lucille's eyes widened in realization. "Then...everyone we know will come back too?"

Ion nodded. "Yes, that includes every heart that had been stolen by the Heartless. Everyone will return to where they belong."

"I'll bet my lucky rabbit foot if Ansem opens that Door to Darkness and exposes the Realm of Darkness to our realm, all worlds will be invaded by the Heartless, even the ones that are protected by the Seraphim?" Oswald guessed.

Ion nodded with a sad look. "Yes, the opposite holds equally true. All the worlds would be lost to darkness. Nothing will survive, not even the Seraphim."

"Then what are we waiting for? We need to stop that guy before it's too late." Sora was almost about to burst away before Lucille stopped him.

"Sora, you guys are going to go fight Ansem, right?"

"Well yeah, someone has to stop him, or all the remaining worlds will end up just like our home. We can't let that happen!"

Lucille smiled softly at her brother. "Yeah, I know. That's why we'll go find this key of darkness and you take care of that creep."

"Wait, are you planning to go into the Realm of Darkness?! But that's dangerous!" Ion gasped.

"What?! Sis, you can't go!" Sora shook his head frantically at this.

"We have no choice. The only way to find that key is to enter that realm ourselves and look for it, right? Florian, you know how to get in there, right?" Lucille turned to Florian.

"Yes, I know someone who can help us find a way into the Realm of Darkness. But...are you sure about this? The Realm of Darkness is far different from this realm. It's a place where time is frozen still and has no exit. Once we're in there, we may not be able to come back. You could be trapped there forever. Even I couldn't help you escape once we're inside it. We barely managed to escape the first time and that was only because we didn't fall deep enough to get trapped within the realm before I initiated the pact and took us through the closest keyhole I could find," Florian warned.

"Even so, we have to do this. All the worlds depend on it." Lucille was determined to face the risk. They were literally running against time here.

"Hate to admit it, but she's right, we can't afford to waste time debating this."

"Zen, don't tell me you're okay with this!" Aster scolded.

"Look, if we don't do anything, it'll be the end of all of us. Even as we speak, that psycho is probably making his way there now. We didn't fight to save Ion and this world just to see it get eaten away by the Heartless again," Zen countered.

"...You're right. I wish I had a better answer but there's no way around it. We need to find the Door to Darkness and lock it up forever before that monster finds it." Ion sighed in defeat.

 _"Well well, look at you taking charge~"_ Gula teased.

 _'Can it, freeloader,'_ Zen mentally snapped back at Gula.

"Sora, we need that keyblade that Ion mentioned if we want to lock that door. We can't both go. One of us needs to find Ansem and stop him. You're the one I know who can beat him," Lucille reasoned with Sora.

"But what about you? You might end up trapped there forever! You're my twin sister, Lucille, I don't want to lose you."

"Sora, you won't. Besides, you're one to talk when you're the one who stabbed that keyblade into your chest."

Sora sighed. "Fine, you have a point there. There's no way I can stop you, can I?"

"Nope, this is something I have to do. Besides, this is the only way the worlds that lost their hearts, including our island, will be saved. That alone is worth the risk. If we can bring back our home and save everyone, it'll be worth it."

"I understand, Lucille." Oswald had a sympathetic look. "Alright, it's a gamble, but the kids are right. If we don't do anything, those Heartless won't leave anything left for us to return home to. Besides, if we can really bring back all the worlds that the Heartless stole away by finding this other key and use it to close this door to darkness, then that's worth the risk just like Lucille here said."

Lucille picked up the rabbit and hugged him. "Oswald, thank you! You're such a good friend."

"Hey, cut it out! I'm no stuffed toy!" Oswald grumbled and struggled to get out of Lucille's hug.

"Zen, thank you for trusting in me." Lucille turned to thank Zen.

"Well, you know, after everything we went through just to get to this point, this will be a walk in the park, right?" Zen lightly joked.

"Heh heh, right." Lucille nodded.

"Okay, you win. Just promise me this, just come back safe, alright?" Sora shook his head and sighed in defeat.

"Don't worry, Sora. I promise that I'll come back home, I promised Kairi, too, after all."

"I would argue to bring me along too, but...this is where I'm needed right now. Besides, Leon would just lock me in a room somewhere if I tried to run away again," Aster told them.

"Yeah, you're gonna be the next leader after all. They need you here to help rebuild this world and lead them down a better path." Zen gave a soft smile at his best friend.

"You'll come back to help, right, Zen?" Aster asked. "I already have a spot reserved for you."

"Don't ever forget, you may not have been born here, but, you will always have a home here, and we'll always be here to welcome you back when you do come home." Ion smiled kindly.

"Yeah...I know. Thanks, you two." Zen thanked them softly.

"Welp, looks like my work here is done. I'm outta here." Moira started to walk away.

"You're not coming?" Lucille asked.

"I gotta tell Master Matoya about what happened here. Besides, you guys don't need me for this next step of your journey. We'll be counting on you guys. Don't let us down," Moira answered.

"Moira, thank you for helping us. You didn't have to, but you did anyway," Lucille thanked.

"Aw c'mon, don't get sentimental on me. I was just bored, that's all. It wasn't like I was worried about you guys or anything." Moira tilted her witch hat down slightly to hide her faint blush.

"Okay, now I know that's a lie." Aster narrowed his eyes playfully.

"Oh, whatever! The Magnificent Moira Delune has got places to be. Sayonara, nerds!" Moira huffed before summoning what looked like a portal and quickly jumping through it.

"You know...I don't think she was telling the truth there. She really is a weirdo," Sora bluntly stated.

"You have no idea." Zen shook his head.

* * *

With their new goal in mind, they prepared for what would be their last adventure. It certainly would be their last if that Ansem impostor succeeded.

As they were doing this, Luma approached Lucille and Florian. "Lucille? Florian? I'm glad that I found you! I need you to come with me for a moment." Luma beamed.

"You found something, Luma? What is it?" Florian asked.

"Hee hee, it wouldn't be a surprise if I told you~ Just follow me." Luma giggled.

"It wouldn't hurt to see what Luma wants us to see." Lucille picked up Chi into her arms as she and Florian followed Luma.

"Shouldn't we tell the others, Lady Lucille?" Chi asked.

"Ah, we'll be fine. It'll probably take a few seconds. They won't even know we were gone," Lucille reassured.

* * *

Following Luma to what was the remains of what looked like a ruined courtyard. They found not only Ion there but another that Florian was surprised to see.

"Lord Kuroshi?" Florian blinked.

"I know, I was surprised when I first saw him too. It's a rare sight to see him in this realm."

"So, this is your former teacher, huh? But...should he be in this realm? I thought Seraphim couldn't exist in our realm without a vessel or host to protect them?"

"Let's go find out." Florian ran over to talk to Kuroshi, with Lucille, Chi and Luma following.

Both Ion and Kuroshi heard footsteps and turned to see who it was.

"Well well, look who it is. I heard about the good news from Ion. Good job, kids. I knew you two could pull it off. I have to admit, I didn't see this side-effect coming though. Lord Yggdrasil will be too proud to admit it, but I'm sure he's pleased that this seems to be the only side-effect to the arte." Kuroshi grinned.

"So you're Lord Kuroshi. Florian told me a lot about you," Lucille greeted.

"Oh? Has he now?" Kuroshi smirked and turned to the small Seraph, who blushed faintly.

"Sounds like you have an admirer, Lord Kuroshi." Ion laughed softly.

"Guess I must be doing something right despite Lord Yggdrasil saying otherwise. I take it Luma told you I was here."

Luma nodded.

"Oh, that's right. Can you give this back to Lord Yggdrasil? I don't need it anymore." Florian handed over the Lux charm that he used to give him temporary protection in this realm.

"Good job remembering, kid. To be honest, I had forgotten about it." Kuroshi took the Lux Charm and hid it in his robe.

"No offense, my Lord, but should you be out here? I thought Seraphim are vulnerable without a vessel or host," Chi wondered.

"Veterans like Lord Kuroshi are more adapted to stay within the realm without suffering the usual weaknesses that younger Seraphim have."

"Oh I see, so your body is more resistant than others?" Lucille suggested.

"Pretty much. My work often takes me into this realm and back again to mine, so you could say my body's gotten used to it. Also, you don't need to call me Lord out here. You can just call me Kuroshi. That title makes me feel old." Kuroshi stretched his arms.

"Oh, alright...Kuroshi then." Lucille shrugged.

"Oh, Lord Kuroshi, there's something I wanted to ask you," Florian brought up suddenly. From the tone, Kuroshi could tell he was serious.

"I'm listening, kid."

* * *

"What?! You kids want to get into the Realm of Darkness?!" Kuroshi cried out.

"We know it's very dangerous for people like me, Zen and Oswald, but we need to get in there to find this key of darkness. It's the only way we'll close that Door to Darkness for good."

"I knew we should haven't kept that infernal door around," Kuroshi sighed. "Even Lord Yggdrasil and Master Matoya agreed for once, and those two hardly agree on anything."

"Then why didn't you do that before when you had the chance?" Lucille crossed her arms.

Kuroshi sighed. "Lord Yggdrasil, Lord Dorga and Master Matoya aren't the only Elder Seraphs. There are others as well. They still held the hope that there might have been some survivors from the Keyblade War that could have ended up lost in some part of the Realm of Darkness we haven't scouted before. So they wanted to keep it open in case they needed a way out."

"They never showed up, did they?" Luma figured.

"No, by the time they all agreed to shut that door for good we found that we couldn't. We needed a Keyblade Wielder's help, but, of course, you know our dear leaderYggdrasil's stance on Keyblade wielders in general..."

"He really needs to get over this grudge of his," Lucille sighed.

"You're telling me, I've been trying for years. I think he's coming around...at a snail's pace, but I think it's working" Kuroshi shrugged.

"But that's why it's more important than ever to find this key to close this door. We have a willing wielder who will lock the door. But we need to find that key before it's too late and it can only be found in that realm," Chi reasoned.

"I dunno. Lord Yggdrasil would kill me. Still, this was our mess. The fact that we have to rely on you kids to fix our mistake is kind of embarrassing.

"You didn't want to give up on the chance that some seraphs could have survived the war. There's no shame or mistake in that." Lucille shook her head.

"I know. We took dangerous risk though, and now some crazy Heartless pretending to be someone else wants to throw the door open to unleash all the Heartless. That sure backfired on us ironically."

"So you'll help us get inside, please?" Florian pleaded.

"Curse those puppy eyes of yours," Kuroshi cursed. "Alright, I'll tell you how you can get into the Realm of Darkness physically."

"You will? Oh, thank you, Lord Kuroshi!" Florian thanked.

"...Go to a world called Twilight Town and go inside the clocktower at the station plaza. You'll figure out the rest when you get there. You have to trust me. You'll find your entrance to the Realm of Darkness from there," Kuroshi answered cryptically.

"That's all? It's so vague, though!"

"What I just told you could get me in serious trouble, even more so if I tell you more. No one besides the Elder Seraphs are meant to know this secret. I just know because I have a good friendship with Lord Yggdrasil," Kuroshi sighed and explained.

"Twilight Town...I think that was one of the worlds that Lord Yggdrasil suggested to me when he tried to convince me to move to another world," Ion recalled.

"Well, it's as good a lead as any. We'll try it. Thanks, Kuroshi."

"I better get back to share the good news with Lord Yggdrasil about Ion." Kuroshi turned to create a corridor of light, then turned his head over his shoulder a bit to speak with them one more time, "Y'know, at first I thought I was just imaging it, but I was right. I see something special in both you and your brother. It's well-hidden but I know it's there. Maybe you two are the hope that we've been waiting for. Our light within the darkness."

"...?" Lucille looked confused. "Can you please stop being cryptic?"

Kuroshi simply smiled. "Don't mind me, just the ramblings of a grizzled old man."

"You certainly don't look old," Chi noted.

"The joys of being a Seraph. You can never tell how old we are by appearance alone. We can always change our appearance to either look our actual age or take another form entirely if we wanted but most of us just stick with what we originally came as. Funny enough, this is the form I've always had and I never was interested in changing how I looked." Kuroshi chuckled.

Lucille glanced at Florian with raised eyebrows.

"Oh, this is definitely the form that I first awakened in. I didn't change my appearance or anything!" Florian quickly answered.

"I can vouch. That's how Florian always looked. In seraphim years, he's literally one of the youngest among us," Kuroshi defended.

"Sooo...you could turn into anything you wanted if you just willed it? Like a dragon?" Lucille's eyes became starry.

"Really, Lucille? That's why you were looking at me like that?" Florian looked blankly at her.

Kuroshi bursted out laughing. "You're something else, you know that? Keep each other safe when you're in the Realm of Darkness, you got that?"

"Thanks. We will." Lucille nodded.

"Alright, I'm off. Good luck being a human, Ion. Don't get yourself killed after everything that happened." Kuroshi turned to Ion.

"Noted, my Lord. I'm not a delicate flower. I can still fight and fend for myself, you know." Ion rolled his eyes.

Kuroshi just snickered before he slipped into the corridor of light and closed it behind him.

"Where do those corridors of light go, I wonder?" Lucille questioned.

"Probably to the nearest world that hasn't had their keyhole locked yet. It would be so much easier if we could use them in the Realm of Darkness, but alas, no light so we couldn't create one even if we wanted," Ion told her.

"You're not a Seraph anymore, though, Lord Ion. No offense," Chi reminded.

"Heh heh, none taken. It'll take some time for me to get use to being considered a human now. I think a part of me will always miss being a Seraph, but I'm looking forward to this new life that you were able to give back to me."

Lucille smiled. "I'm sure you'll do fine as a human. Aster and Zen will be there to help if you need the help."

"If it's not too selfish to ask, can I ask that you please take care of Zen when you go to the Realm of Darkness?" Ion asked. "I'm not sure how the Heartless claw will react there."

"I think Zen can look after himself but don't worry. We'll make sure Zen comes back to you guys," Lucille promised.

"Thank you. I know Zen has gotten much stronger since ten years ago, but...he still has a hard time letting things go, especially when it comes to friends. When the worlds are restored, you two will have to say goodbye."

"..." Lucille wasn't sure how to respond to that. She hadn't let the fact sunk in yet that this would be the very last time she'd be able to journey with Zen and Oswald. The thought made her sad.

"I'm sorry, I'm sure there are more important things to be concerned about. You didn't need this added on top of them," Ion apologized.

"Oh no! I can totally get why you're worried, but this is something we have to do. We can't just decide to back away now."

"I know. Maybe I'm worrying over nothing. Besides, I'm sure your hearts will bring you back together again, even despite the barriers that keep the worlds apart."

"So...Twilight Town-I wonder what Kuroshi was talking about."

"He'd said we would learn why he had to be discreet about the information ourselves. It must be very important if not even Lord Kuroshi could speak about it freely," Florian wondered.

 _"Perhaps we should go share this with Zen and Master Oswald. They'll need to know about this,"_ Ava suggested.

Lucille mentally agreed with Ava's idea and faced Ion. "We better get going. Take care, you two. Make this world better than it ever was." Lucille winked.

"We'll certainly make the effort to make that happen." Ion nodded. "Please take care."

"I'll miss you all. Please come back and visit if you can," Luma asked her.

Lucille gently stroked Luma's hair. "I promise. I'll make sure Sora comes and visits too."

Waving a final goodbye to Ion and Luma, the trio headed back to where the Ortensia was, so they could tell Zen and Oswald about what Kuroshi told them.

* * *

Back at the Ortensia, they found Zen and Oswald just as they thought they would-hanging around just outside the gummi ship, probably waiting for them.

"There they are! Where did you three trouble makers run off to?" Oswald tapped his foot in annoyance.

Lucille laughed sheepishly, "Sorry, Luma dragged us away. We met with Florian's former teacher, Lord Kuroshi," Lucille explained.

"Wait, Kuroshi? That's the guy who showed up to take Florian back to the Realm of Darkness when Florian became unconscious," Zen recalled.

"So that's how it happened. Lord Kuroshi is far too kind to me."

"He certainly has a soft spot for ya if he was willing to come all that way to help you." Oswald smiled.

"How did he know about what happened to Florian when we got separated?" Lucille wondered.

"Must be a seraph thing unless he has some kind of tracking ability." Zen shrugged.

"So, what did ya talk about with him?" Oswald asked.

"He said there might be a way for us to get inside the Realm of Darkness physically. We need to go to a world called Twilight Town.," Lucille explained. "Have you guys been there?"

"Nope. Can't say we ever visited that world yet." Zen shook his head.

"Oh, I have, back when I was still an apprentice to Master Yen Sid. Now that I think about it, didn't Master Yen Sid once tell me that Twilight Town had an important secret that only the Seraphim know about? Maybe the two are connected." Oswald nodded.

"Well, that's something you kept to yourself extremely well. Couldn't you have told us this way back when we were talking about going to find this key?" Zen crossed his arms with an irritated look.

"Okay, so I kinda kept quiet about it. It was for a good cause, y'know," Oswald huffed.

"Whatever this secret is, it was important enough to keep people from knowing about it. One way to find out what this secret is: next stop, Twilight Town and then to the Realm of Darkness!" Lucille punched the air.

"Let's just hope that imposter is patient enough to wait for us before he brings armageddon on us all," Zen sarcastically added.

They boarded the Ortensia, which Oswald wasted no time to add the coordinates to Twilight Town and turn on the engine. As the Gummi Ship started to rise up, Aster watched on in the distance, seeing them disappear into the sky.

"Good luck you guys. We'll be counting on you."

* * *

Whew, alright! This chapter is finally done! We're at end-game now, hurray! =D

I'm looking forward to starting on the Chain of Memories arc soon since I've already got a rough idea of how I want to go now. =3 Just waiting to finish the one off before starting a new one.

Anyways, thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, alerted or read this story so far. Your support has been amazing. =3

There's a few reviews I want to respond to, if that's fine with you guys. =D

 **~:Review Corner:~**

Gry21: I'm glad you're enjoying how the story is working out. =D I hope you enjoy the rest and what comes next. Also, that's an interesting thought. That's something to think over for future fan fics, but one arc at a time. XD

Guest 1: Thank you. I'll try not to take too long with each chapter. I hope this one was worth the wait as well. =D

MysteryGirl145: Aw, thank you so much for your kind words! =3 I'm honoured and really happy you are enjoying this fan fic and the characters! I sincerely hope that you enjoy the future arcs as well once the KH1 Arc is included. =3

Guest 2: Oooh, that's something that I had thought about doing but I wasn't sure if people would want another special episode since we're nearing the end of KH 1. Perhaps I could do that this chapter. If people want a special episode with Aqua, please let me know! I'd be interested and excited to write it if people would like to read it. =3

Guest 3: Hm...I don't think that would work at this point. It would be too soon. Maybe in KH2 arc perhaps? ;)

 **~:End of Review Corner:~**

So our heroes are off to Twilight Town in order to find a way into the Realm of Darkness, but what is this secret that Twilight Town hides that no one knows other than the Seraphim? =3

If anyone played Fragmentary Passage that came included with Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter (seriously, couldn't they think of an easier title? XD), they will already kinda know what happened with the Key of Darkness but Lucille and the others don't know that. Who knows, they might bump into a certain someone while they're there...? =P

Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the next one coming. Again, like I said to Guest 2, if you would like to see a Special Episode with Aqua, please let me know via review section. I'll be happy to do one if people would like to see another special episode like I did with Ion. =D

Until next time, happy reading, folks! Moogle Empress, out!

Moogle: Kupo!


	22. Special Episode 2: Aqua's Oath

Hey everyone, Moogle Empress here! Here is the secret Aqua Episode that people requested for as promised. I hope that you all enjoy this chapter. Alright, here we go!

* * *

 **Special Episode 2: Aqua's Oath**

* * *

Meanwhile in the darkest depths of the Realm of Darkness, Aqua remained trapped within, walking through the dark world stitched together by multiple worlds that had lost their hearts to the Heartless and plunged into this desolate and lifeless realm devoid of light. Aqua had lost track of how long she had been there.

She couldn't give up, though. She still had to find a way out of here and find her friends but...she felt tired, so tired...walking down what seemed to be an endless road showing twisted forms of the worlds that were once beautiful and peaceful, it made her heart hurt to think of all the innocents who were lost to darkness.

It had now gotten to the point where she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings due to how exhausted her body felt. Before her mind could catch up to her body, she felt her body fall to her knees before collapsing to the ground. She tried to will her body to stand up, but she barely had the energy to even keep herself awake, let alone stand.

She had a quick renewal of adrenaline kick in when she noticed a group of those black creatures that she had constantly seen throughout her time in this realm. She armed her keyblade ready to attack, but before she could move, in a flurry of movement and the glint of shining armour and a blazing sword of fire, a powerful vertical strike from that fiery sword made quick work of the small creatures, obliterating them instantly in its firey strike. Each one released a heart in perfect union. The person who had come to help Aqua outstretched their open hand to lure the newly released hearts towards her, where she encased them in a bubble of light, protecting the fragile hearts from exposure to the darkness.

"Wretched things…Every time I think we've lowered their numbers, more of them keep popping up," The person cursed and sheathed the beautiful yet dangerous fire sword back into its scabbard. It was when that person turned to face Aqua that she could identify them.

It was a woman that appeared around Aqua's age in appearance, but she had long fire-red hair that seemed to glow like embers in contrast to the darkness and scarlet red eyes with flecks of yellow and orange within her irises, although one eye was covered due to the fringe that overlapped it. Her clothes, or rather armour to be more precise, looked akin to a medieval knight, although there were some clear differences given the wearer of the armour was female. The armour metal looked thinner and elegantly curved. She also wore a black skintight undersuit underneath the armour plating.

The breastplate of the armour had the insignia of a curved heart with wings engraved on it. Even the helmet that she wore on her head that kept most of her long hair from getting in the way of her fighting had wings on each side of it, giving her almost a valkyrie look.

"Are you okay? That was a close call. I'm sure you could have handled it yourself, but you looked like you were going to just collapse right there and then," The other woman started.

When Aqua was about to answer her, the spur of energy she had dwindled, resulting in her literally falling forwards. She would have hit the ground, but thankfully the other girl caught her. "Hey! Are you okay?! Hang in there!" She felt her eyelids lower as if they were weighed down by some sort of invisible force. It didn't take long after for her eyes to close shut, and everything around her fell into darkness.

* * *

When Aqua came about again, her sight was blurry, but it soon sharpened as her consciousness started to resurface. She slowly sat upright and looked in front of her to find...two other people in this desolate place?

"Xei, no. Lord Yggdrasil would murder you and then he would murder me for even thinking about taking her to the Sacred Grove. He explicitly stated that no mortal is allowed there to prevent any information about our home from leaking out to those Seekers that keep hounding us." The knight woman from before was speaking to another, probably her partner or friend?

He had light-brown skin and looked leanly muscled and was completely shirtless besides the many white-coloured tribal-like tattoos that were all over his chest, back and arms. He did wear long black pants with many belts. He wore a tribal like trinket around his neck with a green feather attached near the back.

His hair was long and white but with light green tips at the ends and he had orange-hued eyes. She noticed that on each wrist was a black ragged cloth, and a belt with a long end was buckled together around each of his wrists.

"Aw c'mon, have a heart, Flamberge. The poor girl's probably been here for years! Mortals aren't even supposed to be in this realm at all, let alone for a few hours."

"I will admit...the fact that she has survived this long in the Realm of Darkness without rest or any kind of substance is a miracle. Even for us and our natural resistance to this realm, we couldn't live like that without returning to the Sacred Grove every now and then." The woman known as Flamberge crossed her arms.

"See?! Even you know that it's wrong to leave her like this. C'mon, just who is she going to tell about the Sacred Grove? The local Heartless? In case you don't know, they're not exactly the social type. They're more of the 'Rawr! I'll eat your heart out' type," Xei tried again to convince her.

She gave a look of annoyance and proceeded to kick Xei in the shins, to which he yowled in pain. "I'm fully aware of that, you doofus! And by the way, Heartless steal hearts, not eat them!" Flamberge sighed. "Fine. If Lord Yggdrasil finds out, though, you're the one who's going to get lectured to death."

Xei punched the air cheerfully. "Whoo! I knew I'd get you to come around. Don't worry, all she needs is just a little pick-me-up from my bro and she's good to go. I bet Lord Yggdrasil won't even know she was there." Xei beamed.

"Every day I wonder how your twin brother ended up sharing a heart with you." Flamberge stared dumbfoundedly.

"About how lucky my bro is to have me as his brother?"

"Actually, the other way around, and I wouldn't exactly say he was 'lucky'." Flamberge smirked.

"...You're cold, Flam. The irony is so strong with you. How can you be a fire-elemental Seraph when the way you talk is cold as ice?" Xei cringed.

It was when Aqua let out a soft laugh that she tried to keep contained that got both them to turn and face her.

"Hey, looks like our sleeping beauty has finally come around. Good to see you awake." Xei beamed and waved to Aqua.

Aqua managed to stand up with some ease. That little bit of rest really did wonders. "Yes, thank you. If you don't mind me asking, who are you two? I didn't think I'd find anyone else wandering this realm," Aqua asked.

"You still haven't seen anyone else. We're just two Seraphim on patrol duty. Even so, I'm glad we were there when you were going to fight those Heartless. You looked as if you were going to fall down. Even so, I must advise you to not dally in this realm for very long. If you stay too long in this realm, you'll end up becoming just like those Heartless critters that keep popping up recently," Flamberge told her.

"Geez, way to kill the mood. Well, don't mind ol' Flam there, she's serious like that with everyone. Think she gets it from our leader. Name's Xei, by the way, wind-elemental extraordinaire and master of the skies." Xei winked.

Flamberge sighed and shook her head. "Since my idiot partner didn't introduce me right, I'll do it myself. My name is Flamberge. I am one of the Seraphim, beings born from the light of our hearts. We serve Kingdom Hearts and act as the guardians and protectors of light, serving justice and retribution in equal measure to our enemies, the creatures of darkness that feed on the darkness within mortal-kind's hearts."

"In lamest terms, we basically go around and keep the balance of light and dark in perfect balance, never letting too much dark or too much light go too far," Xei simplified.

"I see..." Aqua nodded in understanding. _'So it's like how Medea explained how the Seraphim work and their purpose.'_ Aqua wondered to herself.

"Recently we've been getting a large increase in these strange creatures called the Heartless. They are no doubt creatures born of darkness, but their purpose seems to be stealing hearts from mortals, thus multiplying their numbers. You saw what I did with the hearts that came out of those heartless, right?" Flamberge asked.

Aqua nodded. She recalled how the hearts that came out of the heartless were bottled into bubbles of light.

"Well, that's what Xei and I do on patrol if we see any Heartless getting too near our home. We take the hearts that were stolen and bring them to the Great World Tree, so those hearts can be reunited with their true owners."

"The Great World Tree?" Aqua repeated.

"It's a really, really old tree that existed even before the whole Keyblade War happened, and our Leader is the guardian of that tree. He's had that job even before he got promoted to being our leader by the old one, some old dude named Dorga, I wasn't around when this all happened, so I just heard all this from the Elder Seraphs," Xei answered.

"I must ask that you keep this information to yourself and not share it with anyone. The Great World Tree is a sacred tree that has a direct connection to Kingdom Hearts itself. It is of the upmost importance to keep it within our kind's knowledge."

"I understand. Don't worry, I promise to keep it a secret," Aqua promised. After all, it seemed that keeping secrets was the only thing she had managed to accomplish so far…

"Well, that's good to know. Otherwise you would have gotten your memory wiped to keep it that way. Trust me, we have Seraphim who can do it. It's scary the amount of things that we're capable of doing if we have the right background and abilities for it," Xei added.

"...They can do that?" Aqua's eyes widened.

"Yes, there are some of us who can enter the realms of mortal dreams and directly alter one's memories without the person knowing or realizing it. Master Unei is one such Seraph. It is understandably cruel, and we do not like using that method to keep our secrets. So, Lord Yggdrasil and Master Unei themselves stated that they would only use it should the need become a necessary evil. However, I'm optimistic that you are not that kind of mortal who would betray our trust, so you have nothing to fear." Flamberge gave a soft smile to Aqua.

"Thank you, I'm grateful that you trust me. I wouldn't do anything to threaten that trust." Aqua was thankful for them believing in her promise. After all, she had learned from Medea how the Keyblade War had caused a rift between seraphim and mortals. The fact that some of them were willing to place their trust in them even after such a horrible tragedy was heart-warming. Besides, these two had been nothing but kind and helpful to her.

"While Lord Yggdrasil is right to be wary of mortals due to their fickle nature, he's wrong to assume this is the same for everyone. I like to believe that they are humans, and mortals are capable of more good than evil. Perhaps that is being too optimistic, but I like to believe that."

"...Flamberge...optimistic? Stop the presses! We just have a breaking headliner!" Xei stared at Flamberge as if she had grown another head.

"Xei, I have a sword made of fire, If you don't mind being prodded with it, please do continue." Flamberge smiled at him, although there was no warmth in it, and it had a threatening tone to it.

"...Noted. Shutting up," Xei quickly answered.

"Would it be alright to ask how you ended up down in this realm? I cannot imagine any mortal would come here of their own free will."

Aqua agreed and poured out every detail of her journey, speaking about her two friends and Medea, who was still waiting at what was once the Land of Departure, now closed off from all worlds. Anyone that would find themselves wandering there would end up trapped in oblivion. When she reached her story's end, the two Seraphim looked enthralled.

"Whoa, now that totally sucks. I don't know who this Xehanort guy is, but he sounds like a scumbag."

"It looks like my gut instinct about you was correct. You are someone we can trust. After all, Lady Medea would not have stayed behind to protect your friend in this 'Chamber of Waking' if she did not believe you would return."

"You know Medea?" Aqua looked hopeful.

"She was the guardian of the Land of Departure and one of the Elder Seraphs. There is hardly anyone within our kind who does not know of her legendary status. She is on-par with the likes of Master Matoya and Master Unei, a powerful Magus-class Seraph," Flamberge answered.

"I didn't know Medea was that well-known. She never really talked about her life outside her guardianship." Aqua was impressed.

"It's true, Lady Medea is pretty well-liked. They say she's level-headed, clever and, apparently, she has a very mother-hen attitude towards youngsters. That goes for both mortals and Seraphim." Xei recalled all the things that he had heard from the older Seraphim.

Aqua smiled sadly in remembrance. "That is very true. Medea had always acted like a mother figure to Terra and myself when we were growing up under Master Eraqus. She always knew what to say and how to fix things between me and Terra when we fought over silly things."

"Heh, I guess that's why Lady Medea is known as the 'Mediator'."

"Now that I think about it, perhaps it would be better if Lord Yggdrasil is told about this," Flamberge spoke thoughtfully out loud.

"Huh? Wait a minute, one moment ago you were against the idea. Why the sudden change of heart?" Xei blinked in surprise.

"Master Aqua knows Lady Medea. Lord Yggdrasil and the other Elder Seraphs are worried about her since the world disappeared without warning with its guardian inside. I think this will help soften Lord Yggdrasil's stance so that he hears her out. Besides, you were the one who wanted to bring her to the Sacred Grove," Flamberge reasoned.

"That's true, he might be less hostile to the idea if she knows about Lady Medea. You think it'll work?" Xei nodded in agreement.

"It's worth a shot." Flamberge shrugged. "Listen, we'll take you to the Sacred Grove. You might get some looks since we've never had a mortal step foot there, but you have to keep this to yourself as well. What you hear or see in the Sacred Grove stays there."

Aqua agreed and nodded. "Of course."

"Well in that case, let's go! We got some hearts to return anyway." Xei beamed. "I can't wait for you to meet my bro, he'll be so excited to meet a real mortal human."

"He means Ryu. He's much more down to earth than Xei, so don't worry. You don't have to suffer a clone of Xei," Flamberge corrected.

"You're just jealous because I can express myself freely~" Xei bragged.

"I can express myself just fine, I just simply have better self-restraint than you."

"Hey, that's totally not true. I have self-restraint too," Xei defended.

"You certainly do not."

"Do too!"

Aqua couldn't contain her amusement and let out a soft laugh again. Both Flamberge and Xei looked at her with confusion.

"I-I'm sorry. You two just remind me so much of Ventus and Terra and how they bickered like that. You two make the weirdest of friends," Aqua apologized and explained. Her expression then turned sad when she realized that her two friends were probably still in danger. "I'm really worried about them. I have to find a way back."

"...Hey, I'm sure they'll be okay, and they're probably waiting for you even as we speak," Xei tried to cheer Aqua up.

"I wish there was a way we could help, but even we couldn't help you back to the Realm of Light. Any help would need to come from the outside. This realm is notorious for not letting anything leave it," Flamberge added.

Aqua shook her head. "You two are already doing so much for me by helping me like this." It then only dawned on her when Xei helped her up that she had never seen a shirtless guy before. She blushed red and looked away shyly.

Xei blinked a few times before he managed to click the pieces together. "Heh, like what you see, little lady?" Xei winked, which resulted in him getting kicked in the shins by Flamberge.

"Yowch! C'mon Flamberge, seriously?!"

"You leech, how shameful can you be?" Flamberge glared darkly. "And why do you not wear your robe like a normal Seraph?!"

"But it's so stuffy and old-fashioned~ It offends my fashion-sense!" Xei whined.

"And this is any better?" Flamberge responded. "The poor girl's probably going to faint again at this rate, so wear at least something to cover your chest, you shameless flirt," Flamberge scolded.

"Yes, mother," Xei sarcastically replied as he snapped his fingers. A chinese-looking robe tunic fell into his open hand and he proceeded to pull the tunic robe over himself so that his chest was now covered.

"I really do not see why it offends you so." Flamberge sighed and looked at her knight-like armour. "Wish I could wear something as cute as that," Flamberge whispered very quietly to herself.

"Eh?" Xei didn't hear what she said.

"Forget it. Please forgive Xei's rudeness, Master Aqua." Flamberge rolled her eyes and bowed respectfully to Aqua.

"Oh no, it's alright. I was just...surprised." Aqua still had her blush but it was a lot fainter now.

"Well, with that dealt with, please follow us. Whatever you do, don't lose sight of the path." Flamberge started to guide the way for Aqua with Xei following behind her to make sure she didn't get lost while walking there.

* * *

It was surprisingly not a long distance from where they were to the entrance of this Sacred Grove.

"Here we are, I'll just have a few words with our gatekeeper, Gaius. Hopefully, I can convince him to let you in," Flamberge told her as she slipped through what looked like living water. It made ripples as she passed through the barrier.

"It's well hidden. I wouldn't have known it was here. So these are seraphic artes? I've seen Medea's artes but they're much different from this." Aqua was in awe by the seraphic artes at work. She gently touched the barrier that even felt like water to the touch.

"Yup, they're ancient illusionary artes. Powerful stuff, it was casted by Master Unei herself. It's important to keep the enemies confused, so we made it look like part of the realm. It even changes form at times to keep the enemy guessing," Xei answered.

"That's impressive. Master Unei must be a powerful mage to keep this arte active."

She sure is. Despite her appearance, she's one of the strongest among us. Just shows you can't judge a book by its cover." Xei shrugged.

Flamberge returned through the barrier. "Okay, I've got good news and bad news. Good news is, Gaius will let Master Aqua through. Bad news, Lord Yggdrasil already knows she's here, and he's not very happy about it."

"Well, that's a no brainer." Xei rolled his eyes.

"So...do I just...walk through?" Aqua was unsure how to step through the barrier.

"Don't worry, Master Aqua. Gaius is the one who decides who to let through the barrier. Anyone that doesn't meet his approval would get a nasty shock and be blocked out, but since Gaius gave you approval, you should get through just fine," Flamberge reassured.

Aqua breathed in and out deeply before boldly stepping through the barrier. She felt that she might get wet since the barrier had a water-like surface, but she was completely dry and passed through it without any complication.

It was then that she looked up and her mouth dropped at the size of the Seraphim in front of her. He towered over her like a mountain. He was a giant of a Seraphim with a bulky build. He was covered in complete body armour and even his head was covered with a knight helmet. It looked very similar to the battle armour that Keyblade wielders like herself and her friends had.

He carried a large great sword that stuck to the ground in front of him, almost still as a statue watching vigilantly.

"You must be the mortal. I greet you, human, as a member of the Seraphim. I am Gaius, gatekeeper and watcher of the Sacred Grove."

Flamberge and Xei passed through and greeted the giant Seraphim.

"So, you met Gaius. Big fella, isn't he?" Xei smirked.

"I didn't know Seraphim could get this tall. It's unbelievable," Aqua admitted.

"Seraphim can come in many forms, little human. We can change our size and form on our whim. If it would make you less intimidated of me, I will change form." With that, Gaius became engulfed in a bright light for a moment and his size decreased greatly until he was the same height as Xei. "Does this size make you less frightened?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you if I did. I'll admit that it does make talking to you a little less...terrifying."

"Fear not, little mortal. My true size often scares even some of the Seraphim around here. However, it does pose a more intimidating threat to anyone who would dare trespass." Gaius shook his head.

"So...Gaius, apparently Lord Yggdrasil already knows about her, but how?" Xei asked.

"I do not know. However, he did give his approval to let her enter our home."

"Really? That doesn't sound like our mortal-phobic leader at all." Xei whistled.

"He must already know that she comes from the same world as Lady Medea. He must want to hear what happened to her from you, Master Aqua," Flamberge clicked.

"If you seek him, you will find him at the base of the Great World Tree as usual," Gaius offered.

"Thanks, Gaius, we'll go see him in a moment. Keep up the good work." Xei waved and gently nudged Aqua to move ahead, moving pass Gaius who returned to his duty.

Aqua was taken by surprise at what she saw beyond the entrance. Even though the place was called 'Sacred Grove', the area was actually much bigger than she imagined.

It was a literal ocean of trees that glowed in a beautiful blue hue, giving off an almost ethereal aura to the place. There were hundreds of tree houses built into the large trees with wooden bridges connecting all the tree houses together. There was blue light that shined from above the tree line, giving off shadows due to the long branches that covered the sky of this place.

She even saw other Seraphim that were busy with whatever task they were doing. She found that not all of them had human forms. Some had animal forms that were the size of a grown human, like cats, dogs, birds or even mythical creatures. Some of them did stop their work when they noticed Aqua and started to whisper amongst themselves.

"No way, is that a mortal? I've never seen one up close!"

"But why is she here? I thought Lord Yggdrasil made it law to keep mortals out of our home."

"Could she be a Keyblade wielder? I can't imagine why she would be here in this realm."

"Are we going to meet your leader right away?" Aqua asked.

"Nah, before that, we're going to visit my brother Ryu. I imagine you haven't eaten a thing since coming here, right? Not that time exists here so it's not like you'd die from hunger, but I still think ya need to eat somethin' to keep your energy up," Xei told her.

"Seraphim don't need food like mortals do. We feed off the light in the Sacred Grove, which is like a pocket of light within this realm. The Great World Tree provides us with all the light we need to survive. Although we do enjoy mortal food as a luxury," Flamberge explained.

"So that's why I've never seen Medea eat anything unless it was something I made. I was worried she was starving herself." Aqua was enlightened by this fact.

"Ryu's pretty fascinated with mortal-kind, so he usually gathers things from other worlds and brings them back for research. He even brings back mortal sweets, so I'm hoping that he has some of those around," Xei added.

Following Xei's footsteps, they climbed up to one of the treetops and crossed around four bridges until they came to the tree house that Xei stopped at. It was a very odd-looking tree house, almost like some kind of eccentric researcher lived here. "Here's Ryu's laboratory. I hope he's in." Xei knocked on the door lightly once, but no response came.

"Do you think he's out?" Flamberge asked.

"Let me try something. I bet he's overworked himself again. Does that brother of mine ever sleep?" Xei muttered darkly before banging on the door much harder this time.

"H-hold on, I'll be right there in a minut-!" A rather flustered-sounding voice came from beyond the door, but his sentence was stopped midway when something fell rather loudly. "Haru! I told you not to touch that, you could hurt yourself!"

"Haru?" Xei raised an eyebrow in confusion.

It seems like whatever was happening behind that door was chaotic. "I'm coming, give me a second!" They heard the voice from before respond, although he did sound as if he was in a rush of some kind. "Here, eat this ice scream while I answer the door."

With that, the door finally opened. She could see how the two were considered twins. They looked almost identical, but there were still some differences between them that helped to set them apart. The one called Ryu looked much younger and weaker than Xei. His mid-length unruly hair was forest green with no hint of any white tips unlike Xei, and he had soft lilac eyes. He wore what looked like inventor goggles that sat around his head and were nestled in his hair.

Ryu looked very much like a researcher as he wore a lab coat over his forest green robe tunic similar to Xei's but longer and brown pants that were mostly hidden thanks to the lab coat. She saw the insignia of the curved heart that she'd seen on Flamberge that seemed to be like a birthmark on his forehead. Could it be that this symbol was the emblem of the Seraphim? He also wore scholar-like glasses that rested on the bridge of his nose.

"Oh, Xei! Welcome back. Is your patrol over already?" Ryu greeted brightly.

"Yo, Ryu. You could say that. We also brought someone that I think you might be interested in talking to," Xei greeted back before moving aside to show Aqua to Ryu.

Ryu blinked a few times, taking his glasses off for a second to clean them, using his lab coat as a cleaning cloth, before putting them back over his eyes. "Is that an actual..."

"Yeah, never thought I'd see one in the Realm of Darkness either." Flamberge shrugged.

Ryu's eyes lit up like a firework. "Please come in! Sorry about the mess. I need to get around to organizing the place eventually." Ryu moved out of the way to allow them inside.

"Oh wow...and I thought Terra was untidy..." Aqua sweatdropped at the state of the entire laboratory.

"Welcome to my laboratory-that's also my house-but I kind of improvised."

"I swear when I'm off patrol duty next, I'm kicking you out of the house, so I can clean this place up myself. It's a mess," Flamberge scolded.

"I know...I have been meaning to clean my lab...eventually..."

"Which technically means never," Flamberge countered.

"I've been meaning to ask, who's this 'Haru' that we overheard you speaking to?"

"Oh...that's right. You weren't here when Lord Yggdrasil introduced him. He's-" Before Ryu could say anymore, a small child poked out from behind Ryu's legs that he must have hidden behind when they entered the house.

The small child had spikey brown hair, a very pale shade of blue eyes and wore a simple white robe tunic similar to Ryu's clothes and pure white baggy trousers along with grey child-sized boots. He had what looked like a light blue-coloured ice cream in one of his hands, looking curiously at the new arrivals.

Aqua blinked in surprise. He looked almost identical to that small cheerful boy she had met on Destiny Islands! She decided to keep it to herself, though, although she was tempted to ask so many questions, especially about how he looked like almost a mirror image of that boy.

"Is that a newborn seraph? When did he show up?" Xei bent down to the child's level.

"He's actually only a day old so far. Lord Yggdrasil and the other Elders decided to call him Haru, since he's a light-elemental. So far, he hasn't shown too much of his powers, but Lord Yggdrasil assumes that this little one has a lot of unlimited potential," Ryu explained.

"Is that right? Well, aren't you a little cute enigma." Xei smiled at the kid. Haru hid shyly behind Ryu's leg and took a small nibble at the ice cream.

"Shy little guy, huh?"

"He is only a day old, Xei. These things take time. Even we struggled at the beginning," Ryu lightly scolded.

Xei shrugged. "Fair point. Man, that was a long time ago. How far we've come, eh?"

"So why is Haru with you?" Flamberge asked.

"Lord Yggdrasil decided to put him under my care. I'm not sure why he chose me, though. I have no experience with training fledglings, let alone newborns."

"I think you've done pretty well so far. It seems like Haru's already attached himself to you, after all. Isn't that right?" Aqua approached carefully and bent down to the boy's level, giving a gentle smile.

Haru stared at her for a few moments before giving a shy smile and nodded.

"Well, you're a natural, Miss...um...I'm sorry, I didn't get your name." Ryu softly chuckled.

"My name is Aqua. I'm a Keyblade Master."

"Wow, I've never met one of your kind before! Lord Yggdrasil was kind of strict on making contact with anyone carrying a keyblade, I'm sure you already know why."

Aqua nodded.

"I, however, am much more open-minded. I'd love to learn more about you and how your keyblade works. I understand the basic function is that it can unlock or lock away any lock and, of course, keyholes, but I'm sure that it has other features that make it similar to seraphic-forged weapons like-"

Aqua looked confused while Xei just smirked and Flamberge sighed.

Ryu coughed and lightly blushed in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I rambled on again, didn't I?"

"You really enjoy learning about the Realm of Light, don't you?" Aqua asked, glancing around at all the various objects that she was certain came from her side.

"Certainly, there's so much ingenuity and knowledge that we can learn from mortals if given the chance. I want to help share that knowledge with others, but...well...it hasn't been easy to get others to listen because of what happened in the past and the rift that remains. I'm sure I'll get through them someday," Ryu admitted.

Haru gently tugged on Aqua's sleeve and she bent down again to match Haru's level. Haru took hold of one of Aqua's hands with his free hand. "Your heart is hurting. Is that because you miss your friends?" Haru asked, which took Aqua by surprise.

"Wha-?"

"Haru, that's personal!" Ryu panicked and picked the small Seraph up in his arms. "I'm sorry about that, Master Aqua. There he goes again with that ability of his. Although, it's still too soon to make any assumptions, I have a feeling Haru could be an 'Empath'."

"An Empath? But those are really rare. There hasn't been a Seraph with that kind of power since the Age of Fairytales." Flamberge's eyes widened in disbelief.

"What's an Empath?" Aqua questioned curiously.

"A Seraph who has the powers of 'Empathy'. It's a very rare power among us. It allows them to sense the feelings of another's heart. They can even use that ability to see the echoes of the heart, which lets them view the heart's memories. If he wanted to, Haru could heal the physical and emotional wounds of that person using artes, but...there's a consequence. Any wound that the one being healed suffered, Haru would feel that in your place," Ryu answered her.

"...Haru can do that?" Aqua looked amazed at the small child who had barely been born as a Seraph for a day.

"This is just a theory. I do not know for certain if Haru has this ability, but the fact that he had been able to do what he just did with you is just like when he used that ability on me earlier. I'm ninety-five percent sure that he's an Empath."

"He used it on you?" Xei repeated.

"I had an accident earlier and caused my hand to bleed. Haru used his ability to take away my wound." Ryu showed his hand where there was a slight hint of an old injury that seemed to be nearly healed. "See? I only cut the palm of my hand just hours ago, and it's barely there anymore. When I checked Haru's hand, I thankfully didn't see a cut, but I could tell Haru cringed when I pressed on it," Ryu recalled.

"Interesting...Have you told Lord Yggdrasil this?" Flamberge asked.

"Not yet. I wanted to be positive before I report it. It could hinder Haru's development greatly if I make any rash decisions about how his power should be handled." Ryu shook his head.

"I dunno, he kinda ticks all the boxes for me. Still, to do all that and barely a day old, that's got to be a record breaker," Xei told him.

"Oh! I completely forgot, you must have been in this realm for a while! Let me see if I can find you something for you to consume," Ryu suddenly remembered and safely dropped Haru back down before looking for something for Aqua.

"I'm really fine, you don't need to-" Aqua tried to gently decline but Ryu turned out quick on his feet and came back with an ice cream similar to the one he had given Haru.

"Here, please take it. At the very least it'll give you an energy boost. My research indicates that humans require a lot of energy daily and sweet sugary things are an ideal and quick energy booster."

"Too much is also bad for them." Flamberge shook her head.

"Smuggling mortal sweets into the Sacred Grove…What would Lord Yggdrasil think~?" Xei teased.

"Oh please, you make it sound as if that's a bad thing." Ryu rolled his eyes at the remark.

"I didn't know you visited Chrono. Isn't that a little dangerous? We're not meant to stay in the Realm of Light for long periods if we don't have a vessel to protect ourselves," Flamberge wondered.

"As a matter of fact, I share Chrono's vessel while I visit, and he already said it was fine. I'm not that foolish to go into the Realm of Light without a plan." Ryu huffed in annoyance.

Aqua looked at the ice cream with an inquisitive eye. "What is it called?"

"Oh, I believe Chrono called it 'Sea-Salt' ice cream. I hear in Twilight Town it is hugely popular with the inhabitants of that world. Apparently, the formula was created by some old duck in a top hat with a very unusual accent. I never got the name. He visited the world once to sell it there. I guess someone managed to figure out the recipe and created their own version," Ryu recalled.

"Sea-Salt Ice Cream? What a strange name." Xei whistled. He looked at Haru and smirked. "Well, it must be pretty good because our little buddy over there seems fixated on it."

Haru was peacefully and quite contently eating his sea-salt ice cream like a cat who had gotten cream.

"It keeps him pacified at least for a little while. I know I shouldn't keep doing this, though. A hyper newborn fueled on sugar is the last thing I need," Ryu sighed.

Aqua decided to take a nibble at the ice cream. Her eyebrows raised in surprise at the flavor. "Wow, it's sweet yet salty at the same time. You wouldn't think such a combination like this would work, but it's really good."

"Fascinating, isn't it? I wonder if I analyze the properties within the ice cream, could I find out what makes it so addicting? Perhaps I could make a version like it using seraphic artes? Or would it perhaps be better using mortal methods to perfect it?"

Flamberge couldn't help but chuckle. "That's our Ryu, you're so adorably dorky when you get like this."

"Wha-? Hey!" Ryu retorted.

"If you plan on making your own kind of that stuff, I'll happily be your guinea pig." Xei snickered.

"Xei, you're a terrible influence on your brother. If you keep indulging him like this, it's going to bite you back one of these days." Flamberge looked at Xei with a disapproving look.

"I've been meaning to ask...how come you two are twins? I didn't think it was possible for Seraphim to have siblings, no offense," Aqua asked curiously as she continued to eat the ice cream, although she added an apologetic smile when she realized it might have come out wrong.

"None taken." Xei shrugged.

"It's a low rate of probability, but it does sometimes happen. We're not sure how it happened exactly ourselves, but according to the Elders, we both came from the same heart, so I guess when that heart was given physical form, there was enough light to form two of us instead of one. If that makes any sense," Ryu tried to explain.

"Long story short, we technically share the same heart, so, like, I have one half and he has the other. It also explains why Lord Yggdrasil chose to not give us guardian duties and we were instead given our current roles today. If I was guarding a world with only half a heart, what's to stop some seedy fellow from trying to corrupt mine and allow that world to fall? They'd have a much easier chance to succeed with someone like myself and Ryu," Xei explained.

"I see..." Aqua frowned. It sounded very familiar to how Xehanort was trying to corrupt Terra's heart, but Terra's heart was whole. If these two only had each half a heart, that made them much more susceptible to influence.

"Xei would make a terrible guardian anyway, so it's probably for the best," Flamberge teased.

"You wound me, Flam. Remind me how we are friends again?" Xei sarcastically responded and rolled his eyes.

Haru was the first to finish the ice cream and went over to where Aqua was again. It was then that he noticed something shiny. "That's really pretty." Haru pointed to the wayfinder that was hanging off Aqua's skirt.

"Oh, so you noticed that?" Aqua smiled and bent down to the tiny Seraph's level and took the wayfinder into her hand to show it to Haru. "This is called a Wayfinder. It's a lucky charm that I created for my friends and myself. It represents an unbreakable connection to my friends. No matter how far apart we are, we'll always find our way back to each other."

Haru's eyes sparkled with awe as Aqua explained it. He gently touched the surface of the wayfinder. A soft glow came from his hands. Even the wayfinder gave off a glow that Aqua never knew it possessed. When it faded, Haru looked at Aqua with a kind smile.

"I hope that you find them, Miss. I'm sure they're thinking about you too. That's the feeling I get from your wayfinder. Your hearts are connected by ties that can't be broken by time."

Aqua gently ruffled Haru's hair.

"I don't think you should keep Lord Yggdrasil waiting. It's rude, you know," Ryu reminded.

"Hm, you have a point. Master Aqua, please follow us to the Great World Tree."

Aqua nodded and got back on to her feet. "It was nice meeting you both-you and Haru. Thank you for the ice cream," Aqua thanked.

"I wish I could do more. I hope your meeting goes well with Lord Yggdrasil. Our leader might seem harsh, but his intentions are always well-meaning. So please don't take any of his harsh words to heart," Ryu told her.

Aqua acknowledged the advice and followed Flamberge and Xei out of the laboratory.

"Well, see ya later, bro. Try not to blow anything up with your experimenting before we get back." Xei winked as he gave a final teasing remark to his brother.

"Oooh! You are impossible, Xei!" Ryu yelled back but sighed happily with a smile on his face after his quick retort. "Well, see you soon. Stay safe."

"Bye, Miss! Come back and visit us again!" Haru waved excitedly before Ryu softly closed the door and turned to his small newborn charge.

"So, Haru...I saw you eyeing that wayfinder," Ryu playfully noted. Haru blushed faintly in embarrassment at that. "Want to try making our own pair? Think of it as a lesson in teamwork." Ryu winked.

Haru's eyes grew excitedly and he nodded earnestly.

* * *

Walking through the grove, moving deeper into the forest, they saw more trees clustered together until they became a single straight path with numerous trees creating an archway. Once they reached the other side of that archway path, they arrived at a small open clearing. There stood a lone majestic and beautifully grand tree resting in the center of that clearing. The tree itself had a gentle blue light and long tree branches full of blue leaves, shining within the dim-light atmosphere of this part of the grove like an illuminating light.

There stood three Seraphim who seemed to be talking to each other.

"I see, so the purification union arte I developed did work. I am glad that it saved him, although not in the way I had theorized."

"The important thing is that it did work, Lord Yggdrasil. I know you weren't exactly expecting Ion to transform into a human, but I don't think that's a bad outcome at all."

"I must agree with Kuroshi on this, Lord Yggdrasil," The elderly woman among them agreed. "There are far worse outcomes that could have resulted. The fact that he was able to become human after his heart was almost smothered by the darkness could have been because the arte you created allowed a kind of resonance between light and darkness to merge together, creating what we would consider a normal heart of any mortal being."

"Perhaps. I would have preferred it if Ion had simply reverted back to his Seraph form before the corruption took root, but I am grateful that it ended the way it did regardless, I'd rather have Ion alive and become a mortal rather than change back to a Seraph and dead. Even if it does unsettle me a little," The one known as Yggdrasil conceded.

"Oh, I'm sure Ion being a human now isn't such a bad thing. This is something Ion always wanted. You can't deny the poor kid that after all that work he did to maintain Radiant Garden despite the condition it was in," Kuroshi reasoned.

"Hmph. It does make me wonder, though, what would happen if the arte was used again on a different Seraph with a different mindset from Ion. Would the result be the same or drastically different?" Yggdrasil wondered.

The elderly woman noted the new arrivals that were watching them and turned to welcome them. "Please come in, my dears. Don't mind us."

The three approached slowly and Aqua was able to get a closer look at the elderly-looking Seraph. She had the appearance of a humble hermit woman who would spend all her time in a forest and looked very old, perhaps as old as time itself. Despite her hag-like face, her eyes were warm and carried hidden wisdom. Her hat even had a bird's nest resting on it, with a blue-bird resting peacefully in the nest.

"Master Unei, please forgive our sudden arrival. I believe you are expecting this young human here. Gaius told us that Lord Yggdrasil had granted her permission."

"Oh, we Elder Seraphs had to do a bit of convincing, but we managed to get our leader to accept her into our home. Isn't that right, little Yggdrasil?" Unei gave a hearty laugh.

"...Don't call me that. I'm not a fledgling anymore, Master Unei." Yggdrasil coughed and looked away while seeming to hide the lower half of his face from Aqua's gaze.

"Is our stoic leader embarrassed?" Kuroshi teased.

"So help me, Kuroshi, I will end you if that ever leaves this place."

"I wouldn't dream of it, my Lord~" Kuroshi smirked.

"You must be Keyblade Master Aqua, the young protege of the late Keyblade Master Eraqus, who guarded the Land of Departure until Xehanort's deception led to the downfall of that world and its current unknown whereabouts."

Aqua looked surprised at this. "You know who I am?"

Unei chuckled. "Medea was one of the many students that I had the pleasure of teaching over the centuries. We kept in touch often. She talked about you and your two fellow wielders quite a lot, my dear. She deeply loved you. All three of you," Unei explained. Aqua knew who the other two she was speaking of were.

"Medea acted like a mother figure to Terra, Ventus and myself. She never mentioned you or anyone else from the Sacred Grove, though."

"We like our privacy, young one. After all, one cannot simply talk about the Sacred Grove to just any soul. This is our only bastion within the Realm of Darkness. Though our resistance to the darkness is greater in this realm, even we have our limits. To lose the Sacred Grove to the darkness would be disastrous," Unei explained.

"I see. I understand, Master Unei." Aqua slowly nodded.

"Rest assured, my dear, I know that she would trust you with this knowledge, but darkness can lurk in many places and has eyes and ears in the darkest of corners. She could not risk someone like Xehanort overhearing something like this," Unei continued.

"Had you known about what Master-I mean Xehanort-was up to?" Aqua questioned.

"Not right away, no. Gotta give credit where it's due, he's a crafty one. He made it difficult for even me to keep tabs on him." Kuroshi shook his head.

"Not even we could have known what he had intended. I do not know why he tried to plunge the Land of Departure into the Realm of Darkness, but whatever you and Medea did prevented it from happening," Yggdrasil continued.

"That also means we have no idea what became of that world since we can't find it anywhere within the Realm of Light or Darkness," Unei added.

So, it was just like Master Eraqus told her. The world would be sealed away in its own bubble, making it impossible for any trespasser to ever find the true heart of that world, protecting it from being tampered with by anyone with dark intentions. That also meant that the Chamber of Waking was also sealed away, the very place where she hid Ven to keep him safe from Xehanort until his heart healed and awakened from its sleep.

Aqua knew what to say to them. "I know what became of that world and what became of Medea."

"Just as we thought. Very well then, human. I would appreciate if you told us what happened. Is Medea alright?" Yggdrasil crossed his arms and gave a light glaring stare to her. Although he looked stern, his eyes showed understanding and concern for his fellow Seraph. Were Medea and Yggdrasil close?

Aqua nodded. "As for Medea, don't worry, she's not in danger. She's remained in the closed space that was created when I sealed the world away." Aqua started to explain the whole story to them as she did with Flamberge and Xei before. Once she had finished her tale, Unei seemed to have figured out what had happened.

"Ahh...I see. So, your Master Eraqus spoke to you of the world's old defense mechanism that was created in case of emergency. That was actually my little idea that I cooked up." Unei nodded.

"You created it, Master Unei?! You're amazing!" Aqua was surprised at this discovery. So the technique that was used to seal the Land of Departure away was a hybrid idea between Seraphim and Keyblade Masters?

"First time I heard of this, Master Unei." Yggdrasil frowned.

"Oh, don't you give me that glare, boy. It was something that I developed with my seraphic artes. Basically, it activates my illusionary arte that I designed originally for Master Matoya for her world that she watches over, but I decided to weave my arte into the keyhole of your world, with permission from the Keyblade Master that was ruling at the time. This was a very long time ago, even before your Master's time."

"So basically...you had a chat with this Master Eraqus's great, great, great predecessor who was the head honcho at the time?" Xei summarized in very blunt terms.

"In the simplest of terms, yes. He agreed to my idea, he predicted that a great danger would come in the far future beyond his lifetime, so he wanted to ensure that his future successors had some way to protect themselves and the world from the forces of darkness that would tear out the world's heart." Unei nodded.

"Wow, that guy was one heck of a fortune teller to see Xehanort's betrayal coming," Kuroshi whistled.

"I do not know if he had seer-sight like Master Matoya, but I will admit, even I am impressed with his foresight," Unei noted.

"And what does this arte of yours do? What do you mean it is the same as the one Master Matoya uses?" Yggdrasil pressed.

"Well, if I had to explain it in a simple way, it is the exact same as how Memoria is protected using illusionary artes to keep people from accidently stumbling upon it. The process is very much the same for Master Aqua's world. There is one difference."

"And that is?" Yggdrasil pressed further.

"To protect those inside the castle, which originally was intended for the Keyblade Master and any students he or she was caring for. I had woven my specialty into the illusionary arte, so any trespasser who would enter the castle to seek this chamber or whatever secret they wished to expose will be 'lost to oblivion' so to speak."

Aqua recalled her Master's words. He spoke very similar lines when he told her of this secret that was passed from Master to Master. A horrible feeling began to bloom in her heart.

"Are you implying that you used your 'dream' artes to trap them within a dream?" Kuroshi asked.

"I suppose mincing words would be pointless, but yes, I used the same artes to keep them contained inside the castle forever within a never-ending dream. It was designed to protect the chamber of waking since that is where the keyhole to that world resides, so it had to be protected from those who would seek that keyhole or the chamber itself."

"Oh no! What about Ven and Medea then? They're still inside the chamber! Are you saying they're trapped there forever?!" Aqua gasped in horror. She hadn't known that part.

Unei shook her head. "No, there's a way to free that world from its slumber and free those lost within. You also possess the key to dispel the arte."

"I see. So you also created a dispelling arte to disperse the spell when it was no longer needed to seal that world, returning it back to the Realm of Light," Flamberge figured out.

"I'm the only one who can return my world back to normal?" Aqua asked hopefully.

Unei nodded. "I'm a professional, my dear. I know to always create a back-up plan should the arte be triggered by accident or prematurely. Yes, the Keyblade that originally belonged to your Master is one that has been passed from from Master to Master ever since the arte was created, only with that key will the arte ever break. As long as you have your Master's Keyblade, not even that old fool Xehanort can find the Chamber of Waking, even if he pulled Castle Oblivion apart brick by brick." She gave a smug look of triumph.

"Heh heh, I like this Elder Seraph." Xei smirked.

"I may be old, but I still have some bite to my bark," Unei simply stated.

"I can understand Master Unei's reasoning with using the artes. It would keep anyone who would seek out that chamber and the keyhole within protected thanks to the illusionary artes, and they would essentially be trapped inside the castle."

"Seems a bit cruel, though. What happens if an innocent person gets dragged in?" Kuroshi cringed.

"I highly doubt such a possibility would happen, but I guess there's nothing we can do if that were to happen. According to Master Unei, Master Aqua is the only one who can remove the arte now since she's the one who triggered it," Yggdrasil sighed.

"Why did you call it Castle Oblivion, Master Unei?" Flamberge questioned.

"That was the name that the Keyblade Master that I worked alongside with to create the arte wanted to give to the sleeping world, to deceive and trick those who would try to seek out the Land of Departure."

"So, by giving it a fake name, you're putting them off the scent. Clever. It's still amazing to think this was all planned out."

"Oh, I just remembered. Lord Yggdrasil, I found these wayward hearts that I managed to free from the clutches of the Heartless." Flamberge brought out the hearts that were still encased in those bubbles of light.

"Thank you, Flamberge. I will make sure these hearts return to their rightful owners." Yggdrasil took the hearts from Flamberge and turned to the Great World Tree to proceed with the purification arte.

"What is he-?" Aqua started to ask before Kuroshi answered for her.

"It's the usual procedure he does with any heart that's been previously tainted by darkness. Lord Yggdrasil's unique ability lies in his ability to purify and mend broken hearts."

"You see, my dear. Yggdrasil is quite unique. He has the power to mend and purify broken, tainted or even help awaken sleeping hearts. He is the only one among us who has this ability," Unei explained.

Sleeping hearts...I wonder..." Aqua spoke her thoughts out loud.

"I know what you are thinking, human. No, I cannot heal your friend's heart," Yggdrasil stated bluntly, finishing the arte and allowing the hearts to be absorbed into the tree, which would take those lost hearts back to their owners, where they last were before the Heartless stole them away.

"Right. I suppose it wouldn't be that easy," Aqua replied, sounding defeated.

"You know, boss, you could be a little more sympathetic. This is her friend we're talking about here. She's already got enough things to worry about," Kuroshi noted.

"I only speak the truth. After all, one cannot mend a heart that's not complete," Yggdrasil cryptically spoke.

"What do you mean by that?" Aqua suddenly became alert from hearing this.

"You don't know? Your friend, this Ventus of yours is missing the core part of his heart. Without it, he will never wake up. However, it is very likely this piece of Ventus went to the heart of another for shelter, perhaps someone that he trusts."

"Ven is missing a vital piece of his heart? Who's the one that has it? Please! You have to tell me!" Aqua begged.

"...I do not know myself, I have a good guess who the likely host is. Even if you did know, what would you do? How far would you go to save your friend? Even if it meant harming another person to force it out of them?" Yggdrasil questioned.

"What? I'd never-!" Aqua felt insulted by the fact that Yggdrasil thought she would do something like that, even if it was for Ven's sake...but...he wasn't entirely wrong...Just how much would she give up just to see her friends again? The more she stayed in this realm, the darker her thoughts become. This realm was trying to twist and corrupt her. Very slowly but surely, it was working.

She really needed to get out of here and soon.

"You say that now, but the longer you stay in this realm, the darkness will cling to your heart like a fishing hook. No matter how strong your willpower is, you will eventually succumb to the darkness that blankets this realm if you do not leave this place soon, and you will be no different from the man who seeks to reignite an ancient war just for his selfish ends. This is why mortals should never come here in the first place."

"...Geez, Lord Yggdrasil. Can't you just tell her that you're worried about her being affected by this realm? Watching your attempt at showing concern for someone is more painful than it has to be," Kuroshi bluntly told his leader.

"Hmph."

"Is that true? You're...concerned for me?" Aqua blinked.

"Don't misunderstand., Yggdrasil's gruff reply came. "You came here of your own free will, and you cannot escape from this place without outside help, so you have no one to blame but yourself for your current situation. I also still don't trust you Keyblade Masters. However, as a leader, I must show at least some slight concern even towards you."

Aqua gave a soft smile, knowing that only half of what Yggdrasil said was true, while the other half was just a false facade. It made her think of Terra, since he acted in a very similar manner when he tried to act cool and mature in front of her and Ventus.

"Thank you, Lord Yggdrasil. At first, I was a little nervous around you, but you're actually a lot nicer than you pretend to be," Aqua thanked.

"I...I was not pretending, foolish human," Yggdrasil retorted, even though he did hesitate to respond at first.

Flamberge and Xei simply looked at each other with confusion and shrugged at each other.

Unei and Kuroshi, however, seemed to know better, since there were tender smiles on both of their faces at their conversation.

"Now that I think about it, there might be a way to get back to the Realm of Light, but it's dangerous, and we had needed a Keyblade Master's help in preventing the horde of Heartless from invading the Realm of Light."

"You need a Keyblade Master for this? Well, if I can help in some way, I'll try. If it can help me escape this place, even better," Aqua pressed for more information.

"There's a special door here that connects this realm to the Realm of Light. We call it the Door to Darkness," Unei started to explain.

"I know what you're probably thinking…Could we think of even less unoriginal name than that?" Kuroshi teased.

"As cliched as the name of that door is, it is potentially a massive threat to the Realm of Light," Yggdrasil countered. "We should have sealed that door when we had the chance."

"You were worried for your fellow Seraphim, Yggdrasil. You were morally correct, but it is true that we risked a huge chance of someone exploiting it. But never doubt that your compassion for your kin is a weakness," Unei reasoned.

"Exploiting it?" Aqua wanted to know more about this door and pressed for more answers.

"Wait, is this that huge door that's currently sitting smack dab in the middle of that recently consumed world...what was it called again? Destiny Islands, that's it!" Xei wondered out loud.

Aqua became alert at this That world she had visited where she met Haru's close look-alike along with the other boy that was with him had been destroyed?! Just how long had she been here?

"Destiny Islands is...gone? But how?" Aqua shook her head in disbelief.

"...We don't know. We believe it was an inside job. There's no way that world could have been entered from outside forces. It's one of the few worlds that radiated with such purity it would have been nigh impossible for any creature of the dark to claw their way inside," Yggdrasil answered.

"I'd like to meet the arrogant fool who willingly allowed their home to be devoured!" Flamberge angerly blurted out. Realizing it might have come off as a bit sharp, she coughed to compose herself. "My apologies, my lords and Master Unei." She then bowed respectfully towards her superiors.

"Well, I can't blame you for feeling that way, Flamberge. I was the guardian to that world until Florian took over from me. I've got sentimental attachment to that world, ya know?"

"And I told you attaching yourself too much to something can-"

"Yeah yeah, we know, boss." Kuroshi rolled his eyes. "It could lead us down the path to darkness, we slowly become corrupted, yadda yadda, so on and so forth." Kuroshi smirked.

"...Stop that." Yggdrasil crossed his arms and glared at him.

"I understand you want to keep us safe and all, but you really need to lay off the doom and gloom parts. This is why everyone gets nervous around you, you know," Kuroshi bluntly stated.

"Hmph, noted," Yggdrasil scoffed before turning back to the blue-haired Keyblade Master. "My apologies, as I was saying before we got side-tracked, as Xei just said, the door is currently located in the same place where the remains of Destiny Islands are currently resting. There is a shadow of a man I am sure you are familiar with. It is trying to open that door to allow the Heartless to roam across all worlds. If that were to happen, not even we could stem the flood of darkness."

"In short, it would mean the end of all worlds should this realm come into contact with the Realm of Light. It is for that reason, that we ask for your help, young human," Unei continued.

"What can I do to help?" Aqua looked confused.

"Like any door, it can be sealed with a keyblade, but there's a catch. We need two keyblades, one of light and one of darkness. Thankfully, it had come to our attention thanks to Kuroshi's eagle eyes that you are not the only keyblade wielder here. There is another."

"Another? Could it be Terra?" Aqua asked hopefully.

"No, the mortal in question was a mouse king. Kuroshi, I beleive you have the details." Yggdrasil turned to Kuroshi.

"You got it, boss. The name's Mickey if my intel is right. I don't know why he's here, but, apparently, he's looking for the Door to Darkness too. Probably to close it up."

"The king is here?! I need to go find him!" Aqua instantly knew who the Keyblade wielder was just from the name alone. She remembered the times they had joined forces and encountered each other throughout her journey. He was a good friend, one that she did not intend to become a victim to this place, but...

"That shadow you mentioned...You mean, it was Xehanort." To Aqua, it was more of a confirmation than a question.

"Correct-or rather his Heartless-but he is a threat nonetheless, one that we need to exterminate before he dooms all the worlds by unleashing those things upon the realm. They will eat every heart until there is nothing left to consume. I cannot force you to help us. You are free to decline if you so wish, but...I will not lie that your help could help us in ways that we are unable to." Yggdrasil answered.

"Alright. I'll help you close that door." Aqua nodded, agreeing to aid them in preventing this terrible darkness-filled apocalypse from happening. After all, somehow, she didn't know how or why, but she knew that Yggdrasil was earnestly trying to learn to trust Keyblade wielders again. She couldn't blame him considering he had seen the war with his own eyes when he had been probably a newborn like Haru back then. She couldn't imagine what it was like to experience such a horror at that age.

"Yggdrasil will never admit it, but I am almost positive he is well relieved to hear that." Unei smiled.

Yggdrasil gave a disapproving look, he then sighed. "Do not misunderstand, I still do not trust your kind, but...all the worlds are in danger right now. It is time that I put that grudge aside for now for the sake of the future of Seraphim and mortals alike. There are innocents on both sides that we need to protect."

Aqua smiled kindly at him. "You're truly a great leader. You may not express it, but your actions speak louder than words can say." In some ways, Yggdrasil reminded her strongly of Master Eraqus.

"..." Yggdrasil didn't have anything to rebuke or retort that statement. He turned around, though, so Aqua could not see the Seraphim leader's face. "I...am grateful that you are willing to help us despite my passive-aggressive nature towards you. Thank you."

"Just tell me where I need to go," Aqua requested.

* * *

Leaving the safety of the Sacred Grove, not before saying goodbye to the Seraphim that came to see her off, even Gaius offered some words of encouragement and strength for her. She followed Flamberge and Xei, who guided her back to where they first found her, going a little further before stopping at a crossroad.

"If you take that path on the right, that will put you on the right track to where that Door to Darkness is," Flamberge pointed out to Aqua the direction she should go.

"You'll probably have to pass a few worlds that got swallowed up along the way, but no matter what, keep going forward and you'll find where Destiny Islands' remains are. That's where you'll find the Key of Darkness that was born in this realm," Xei added.

"Will you be okay on your own?"

"Yeah, I've got this for good luck." Aqua smiled softly, showing her wayfinder to them.

"I'm afraid this is as far as we can go. I hope that you keep yourself safe. If I could, I'd go with you and kick some Heartless butt with you," Xei told her.

"I know Lord Yggdrasil told us to be wary of mortals in case they tried to take advantage of us. But...I hope that...you know..." Flamberge blushed faintly, finding it hard to speak the words she wanted to say because of her pride.

Aqua seemed to know and answered. "Of course, we're friends. You and Xei have done so much for me, even though you had no reason to."

"You dork, only losers actually believe everything that guy says." Xei smirked.

Flamberge kicked Xei in the shins again. "Don't speak ill of our leader, or should I tell him you said that?"

"No! Please no! I'd never survive his lecturing!" Xei yelped.

Flamberge snickered evilly. _'Hehheheh...Works every time...it never gets old to see that reaction.'_ She then turned back to Aqua. "When you get back to the Realm of Light after locking that door, say hi to your friends Ven and Terra for me. Oh! And tell Lady Medea that everything is under control here. Lord Yggdrasil asked me to deliver that message to you."

Aqua smiled softly and nodded. "Right. I'll be sure to tell them about you guys. I'm sure we'll see each other again. Goodbye." Aqua waved to them before she started down her path towards the unknown of what awaited her on the other side, using the Wayfinder and her sheer force of will to keep her wits about her in this place. She had a promise to keep after all.

"Terra...Ven...Medea...please give me strength. I'll find a way back to all three of you. And...we'll all gaze under the same stars again soon...I promise."

* * *

Whew! Finally got this Secret Episode (or rather the Aqua Episode =P) done!

I hope that this chapter meets your expectations. Had to go through a few rewrites for the chapter until I finally got the story to flow better. I also hope that you are enjoying the fan fic so far as we are reaching the last chapters of the KH1 saga!

Just to clear some confusion, this secret episode takes place just before a Fragmentary Passage begins. I felt that was the best time to fit in the secret episode since it would make no sense to start it in the middle of Fragmentary Passage, but don't worry, we'll catch up with Aqua when we get to that part in the series. XD

You might have also noticed that I'm hinting something about Haru. Don't worry, you'll find out in due time his part in this huge story. ;)

Which reminds me, I better start working on Chain of Memories soon, but I want to make sure I get the main ideas down in the first story first. XD

Thank to everyone who has reviewed, favorited or alerted this story. I'm surprised at how much of a gathering it has gotten since I started over a year ago (or at least roughly XD).

No review corner this time, but I'll be sure to add it at the end of next chapter. =3

Please look forward to the next installment, and until then, happy reading, folks! Moogle Empress, out!

Moogle: Kupo!


	23. Episode 21: Door Of Twilight

**Episode 21: Door Of Twilight**

* * *

Lucille and her friends are on their way to Twilight Town, a world that Oswald is familiar with and where Kuroshi, Florian's old mentor, hinted to them where to enter the Realm of Darkness physically.

During their journey to this world, the dashboard on the Ortensia's controls began to light up.

"A message? From who?" Oswald recognized it was coming from the comsphere device.

"Oh yeah, I forgot we had those..." Lucille vaguely recalled the strange orbed device.

"But who would be calling us? The only ones who know how to use it are Cid and Aster," Zen said.

"Wait...didn't Moira give us one?" Chi remembered.

"Oh please no, don't let it be-"

"Yooohooo~ How's it going, Lulu~?" Moira's sing-song tone crackled through the built-in radio speakers as a holographic screen appeared in front of the Ortensia's cockpit's window.

"Please stop calling me that, Moira." Lucille laughed sheepishly at the nickname.

"...Oswald, is there an off button in this thing?" Zen growled.

"Pfft, nice to see you too, Mr. brood-a-lot," Moira sniped.

"Miss Moira? Why are you contacting us?" Florian asked curiously.

"Some stuff happened after I told Master Matoya everything that occurred back in Hallow Bastion, so she sent me back to give you guys a little help during your little adventure in Twilight Town."

"Oh? But I thought you weren't allowed to get involved since you're an observer." Lucille recalled Moira saying that a few times in the past.

"I never said I was going to join you guys in the Realm of Darkness. I mean, no way I'm **that** suicidal. I'm just gonna be there to 'observe' how the whole meeting goes with the guardian of that world."

Twilight Town has a guardian too?" Florian became intrigued.

"Yup, the one in charge of guarding that world is Chrono. He's...how do I put this kindly...? I guess the best way to describe him is that he's a tad socially awkward."

"So in other words, he's a wuss," Zen bluntly stated.

"Zen!" Lucille punched Zen's arm with a disapproving look.

"That's...not entirely wrong." Moira shrugged. "I think he's just more skittish and shy than most Seraphim."

"But why would Lord Yggdrasil put someone like Chrono on guardianship already? It sounds like he didn't have much training beforehand." Florian frowned.

"He didn't. He's a pretty uncommon kind of Seraph who can use time artes. As of right now, though, he's the only Seraph who can cast them, so he doesn't really have anyone to learn from other than the Elders like Master Matoya."

"He can control time?" Oswald's ears perked up at this.

"Well, I'll be blunt, he's pretty much a time-lord since he can travel to the past or future without the usual restrictions that prevents mortals from abusing it-well, those with a death wish anyway. Thankfully, Chrono is about as dangerous as a baby kitten, so I don't think he'll be abusing his time artes any time soon, if ever."

"Have you met him before? It sounds like you know him quite well."

"For a short time, he was being mentored under Master Matoya before he got shipped off to guard Twilight Town. I've met him briefly a few times since I'm serving under Master Matoya. Cute kid, you and Chrono would hit it off really well, kiddo. Since he's pretty fascinated by contraptions and objects made by mortals too."

Florian's eyes shined brightly at this. "Oh, now I am looking forward to meeting him."

"Well, guess I'll be meeting you nerds at Twilight Station. You'll know where to find it when you see it." Moira winked. "The Magnificent Moira Delune will be there when you arrive. Toodles." With that she cut off the connection from her comsphere.

"Great, now I really don't want to go down to this world."

"Moira isn't so bad, Zen. Just bare with her for a little while," Lucille reassured him.

"Now that I think about it, I noticed that Moira seems to have some kind of fascination with you, Lucille. Why is that?" Zen asked.

 _"Good question. She does seem pretty familiar with Lucille. I wonder if they're connected somehow,"_ Gula chimed.

 _"But I would have known if there was a connection, wouldn't I?"_ Ava answered with a question of her own.

Oswald gave them strange looks, confused at why they were talking to each other.

"Oh, right...since we're all together, now would be a good time to finally break the ice." Lucille remembered that they were going to tell Oswald about Ava and Gula.

"Alright, what are you kids hiding from me? You know it's rude to hide secrets from friends." Oswald activated the auto-pilot before jumping out of his seat to face the two teens.

Zen sighed. "Just...don't freak out. Alright, freeloader, show yourself."

 _"My_ _ **name**_ _is Gula!"_ Gula's defiant retort could be heard as he changed into a spectral form so even the rabbit Keyblade Master could see him.

 _"You know, you could start calling Gula by his name, Zen. You know that he doesn't like it,"_ Ava tried to reason with the greenette.

"I could, but it's kind of amusing to see him lose his cool at being called that." Zen smirked.

 _"Oh, it's like that, huh? Fine, I'm not going to react to it next time,"_ Gula challenged.

"Master Gula and Zen are so alike it's terrifying," Chi sighed.

"Um, so...Oswald," Lucille started. "I'd like you to meet Master Ava and Gula, two of the five foretellers that you told us existed during the Era of Fairytales."

 _"It's an honour to meet a fellow Keyblade Master, Master Oswald."_ Ava bowed respectfully.

"..."

Oswald's scream could be heard even from interspace as the Ortensia continued her voyage to Twilight Town.

* * *

"Mr. Oswald, are you okay?" Florian asked with concern at Oswald, who had fainted after screaming. He had finally just come around and straightened himself.

"It's okay. I'm fine. I was just...really taken aback, it was so sudden. Ya tellin' me these two have been with you all this time? For how long?" Oswald questioned after taking a few deep breaths.

"Sorry, Oswald, I guess it was pretty sudden to drop this on you," Lucille apologized.

"This was why I said to not freak out." Zen sighed.

 _"To answer your question, Master Oswald, Ava and I have been with them since birth. It's hard to explain how it happened, but when their hearts were newly born, they were able to find us in the darkness, as wayward hearts that have lost their way,"_ Gula started.

"Ya saying that their hearts found you guys in the Realm of Darkness? How did that happen?" Oswald wondered.

 _"To be honest, I'm not sure how myself. We fought in that Keyblade War until we couldn't even move anymore. It was very likely that we lost our bodies when the world became consumed by darkness,"_ Ava continued.

 _"Either way, our bodies were lost, but our hearts survived and wandered in the darkness. Being stuck in that darkness for so long, you start to forget things, who you are, the people you met, everything that you have experienced until then. The darkness was slowly stripping away everything that we had,"_ Gula described.

 _"But then, just when things seemed hopeless and I had been ready to just submit, I saw a light. It was pure and untouched. I didn't hesitate to go near it. It could have been a cruel illusion created by myself, but the moment I reached out to that light, it felt like I was reborn. Next thing I knew, I found myself sharing Zen's body,"_ Gula explained.

 _"Yeah, that's exactly how it happened for me too! I didn't know it then, but it was Lucille's heart reaching out to me even though she had just been born. Sometimes the heart does things without thinking. I think what happened was a natural instinct that both Lucille and Zen shared. They wanted to save us from the darkness."_ Ava nodded.

"So...you guys are like a part of their hearts now or something?" Oswald questioned.

 _"Pretty much. You could say Lucille and Zen are our reincarnations, so even though Ava and I are just ghosts that remained behind even after our hearts merged, they are essentially our heirs, or rather, successors to all our knowledge and powers. So when the time comes, the Book of Prophecies will acknowledge them as the new foretellers of this era,"_ Gula answered.

"Boy, this is intense. But...imagine that Zen. All this time, you had an ancient heart living inside you."

"It sounds really creepy when you say it like that Oswald," Zen cringed.

 _"I think that's why Xehanort did all those experiments on Zen and why he had Maleficent order Lucille's friend to bring Lucille to Radiant Garden under the pretense it was to help her. He must have wanted our knowledge and power, and he sought to take it by pulling us out by force."_ Gula theorized.

 _"Hee hee, you always were the sharp one, Gula."_ Ava laughed softly.

 _"One of my finest virtues, right?"_ Gula smirked but it soon changed back to his serious expression as his thoughts went back to his original line of thought. _"Or at least that's most likely what he would have wanted if that Heartless really was Xehanort's. It seems like if that Heartless did belong to Xehanort, it's acting on its own impulse, It believes he is Ansem rather than Xehanort, after all."_

"I know Lord Ansem. He'd never want anything like that. Even when he was submerged in all that research on the heart." Zen crossed his arms.

"That's right, you were close to Lord Ansem, weren't you?" Oswald looked sympathetic.

"It's true that Lord Ansem might have come off as a little distant and had isolated himself ever since Queen Tia died, but he was never a heartless man. He might have not expressed it the way he wanted to, but he did care about us. He raised me as part of the family, even though I had no blood ties to them, and he never treated me differently like the other people in Radiant Garden did."

"Zen..." Lucille looked saddened.

"That's why, I will never forgive that Heartless imposter for pretending to be Ansem. As far as I'm concerned, the real Ansem would never have wanted to bring harm to any world. He cared about Radiant Garden and was fascinated by other worlds. He wouldn't bring about their destruction." Zen shook his head.

"But I also can't really forgive Lord Ansem completely either. It was his research that led to Xehanort's fascination with the heart and the Heartless. It was what caused so much suffering for Ion and brought the downfall of Radiant Garden. Aster lost his memories and Kairi washed up in your world. So my feelings towards Lord Ansem are...complicated," Zen admitted.

 _"I don't blame you for feeling that way. It may not have been what your King had wanted, but it doesn't change the fact that his research did bring about Radiant Garden's transformation to Hallow Bastion, and it was what caused Ion's corruption and gave you that heartless claw..."_ Gula nodded.

Zen looked at his bandaged arm. "Well, maybe Aster's right. Some of that research Lord Ansem did could have a way to reverse it. It doesn't hurt to have a little hope," Zen countered.

 _"I truly hope so,"_ Gula added softly.

"Did you say something, Gula?" Zen raised an eyebrow.

 _"No, it's nothing. Hey, wait a minute! You finally called me Gula!"_

"Oh c'mon, don't tell me you're gonna get huffy again. Or should I revert back to freeloader?" Zen teased.

 _"Zen, I_ _ **swear**_ _..."_ Gula grumbled darkly.

"Don't agitate Gula, please." Lucille rolled her eyes.

"So...let me get this straight, you guys are the same foretellers that existed in the Era of Fairytales that Zen and I have been gathering relics from along with Lux fragments, and you are now sharing a heart with these two who will eventually become the new foretellers, taking over that job from you guys?" Oswald summarized.

 _"That's the gist of it,"_ Gula confirmed.

"Then...what about the other three? There's meant to be five of you according to all the old records that Zen and I were able to gather from various worlds we visited," Oswald asked.

"That's a good point. Do you think they were as lucky as you two?" Zen agreed with Oswald's thinking.

"I'm sure that they're okay! I mean, they're Foretellers as well, aren't they?" Florian tried to instill some hope in the two foretellers.

 _"I want to believe that Invi, Aced and Ira are safe too and that they were as lucky as us to find good people to share their hearts with,"_ Ava prayed.

 _"I can't imagine ol' Aced losing to darkness. His pride would never allow it."_ Gula chuckled. _"But...yeah, I hope those guys are okay too, wherever they are."_

"Hey, I just thought of something. You've been with Zen since he was born, right? That means you know where he originally came from." An idea struck Oswald, something he hadn't ever thought would be possible to ask.

"Wait, that's a good point! Do you know, Gula?" Lucille chimed in.

 _"Well..."_

"Don't tell me you don't actually know either." Oswald groaned.

"It doesn't matter," Zen intervened.

"Huh? Are you sure? Aren't you curious about where you came from?" Chi wondered.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't entirely uninterested. But Radiant Garden is my home now. Even if I found out about my original home now, it wouldn't be the same."

Lucille nodded. "Yeah, I can understand that. Even after all the worlds I have seen, there's no place like home, where all your friends and family are."

 _"Crystal Tower,"_ Gula answered.

"Eh?" Zen raised an eyebrow.

 _"The name of the world that you came from. It's called Crystal Tower. I remember someone mentioning it before it got destroyed. I only know a few things about the world, but nothing too revealing. Zen was just a baby back then, so it wasn't like I could go eavesdropping on people."_

"So it's just as we thought, my world got destroyed by the Heartless." Zen crossed his arms.

"Crystal Tower? I know that place! I was there once!"

"You were?" Zen questioned.

"Well, this is way before your time, kid. I visited it when I was still an apprentice to Master Yen Sid. He sent me there to investigate something. Beautiful place. I can't believe that world is gone..." Oswald answered as his ears drooped at the thought of that world having been devoured.

 _"To be honest, I am as clueless as you as to how we ended up on Radiant Garden. I do know one thing, though. It had something to do with the heart of Crystal Tower,"_ Gula added.

"The heart of Crystal Tower?" Chi repeated.

"He means the giant living crystal that's protected deep within the tower itself. The locals called it the 'Crystal of Light'. Only the royal family and their chosen knights know about where it's actually located. They say it is the beating heart of Crystal Tower itself, filled with bountiful light. No wonder the Heartless would have wanted to target that world. Still, I never knew that Crystal Tower was where you were born, Zen."

"But how did Crystal Tower end up falling into darkness if that crystal was as powerful as you say?" Florian looked confused.

 _"You know...I don't think it actually did."_ Gula shook his head.

"What are you saying? That it somehow still exists?" Oswald pressed for answers.

 _"It's just a theory. What if that crystal was sentient of its own free will? You said yourself that the crystal was the beating heart of the tower. It wouldn't be too farfetched to assume that perhaps it acquired a level of self-awareness. It could have acted in self-defense and isolated the world entirely by plunging it into a deep sleep, as we know Heartless can't enter a sleeping world."_

 _"That's...possible. The hearts of worlds are not that different from our own. They can sometimes act on their own impulses to ensure the survival of that world."_ Ava hummed in agreement with Gula's theory.

"So what you're saying is...that Crystal Tower could have become a sleeping world in an act of self-defense to prevent the Heartless from getting inside where the Crystal of Light is," Oswald guessed.

 _"I don't know if I'm right or wrong, but...there's something about that crystal. I'm almost certain that it was alive in some way,"_ Gula remembered.

"A living crystal, huh? That sounds amazing. I wish I could see it for myself!" Lucille's eyes shined with excitement.

"..." Zen was silent as if thinking about something to himself.

It was around then that they heard some beeping noises coming from the dashboard. "Looks like we're here at our destination. Might be best if ya two go back inside Zen and Lucille's hearts. We don't want to scare the locals," Oswald stated.

 _"Good point, let's go, Ava," Gula complied._

 _"Be careful down there, everyone,"_ Ava said in light warning before both of the Foretellers disappeared and returned to where they came from.

"I'm never going to get used to that." Zen sighed and shook his head.

"Heh heh," Lucille chuckled before heading back to the cockpit with everyone else following shortly afterwards.

* * *

Landing the Gummi Ship as close as possible to the station where they could clearly see the clocktower standing above it, it took only a short walk for them to arrive at the station.

"Is the sky always like this?" Lucille noted how the sky seemed to remain stuck between dawn or dusk. It was hard to tell which one it was.

"Twilight Town's always been like this. It's a world stuck in perpetual twilight," Oswald answered her.

Accepting Oswald's answer, she then turned her gaze at the clocktower. "Oooh, now that's one big tower. It looks a lot bigger from down here." Lucille stood awed at the sight.

"I wonder what's in there that Lord Kuroshi didn't want to talk about openly?" Florian wondered.

"Guess we'll find out when we get inside. We're supposed to meet the witch here, aren't we?" Oswald tried to look around for any sign of Moira.

"Hey, lookie who finally showed up. I've been waiting for hours!" Moira loudly announced herself, showing up in front of the group.

"Hey, Moira," Lucille greeted her casually.

"I take it you've already talked with this guardian, right?"

"I sure did. Hopefully, he won't faint from fright since he's expecting us. I've been meaning to ask ya, though, how did you guys find out about this place?" Moira wondered.

"Uhhhh...A wizard did it?" Lucille bluffed while laughing nervously.

"Lulu, sweetie, you suck at lying." Moira looked unconvinced and bluntly told her the obvious.

Lucille sighed in defeat. "Everyone keeps saying that..."

"Well, you **are** terrible at it." Zen smirked.

"Oh, shut up!" Lucille bristled at Zen's remark.

"Lord Kuroshi told us about this place, although he didn't really go into detail about it. He just said to come to the clocktower in Twilight Town," Florian confessed on Lucille's behalf.

"Ahhh, that makes sense. Well, don't worry, I won't tell. There's a big reason why this location was hush-hush. We can't let anyone with world-destroying habits and mad darkness-filled psychos find out about it." Moira nodded.

"Just what is this big secret?" Oswald crossed his arms and glared at the witch observer.

"Heh heh. Oh, you'll see~" Moira sang in a sing-song tone as she turned around. "Now then, follow me."

And so, they did follow Moira's guidance heading towards the station plaza itself where the clocktower towered the building like a watchful guardian.

* * *

Once inside the clocktower and as they climbed the many stairs, they could hear the ticking hands and gears grinding in perfect sync, it was strangely soothing for some reason.

"You know, you'd think that a world like this would know how to make elevators or something like it," Zen finally said something.

 _"A little stair climbing isn't going to kill you~"_ Gula teased.

"Says the one **inside** my heart and getting carried up," Zen hissed back.

"Oh, quit complaining, we've arrived at the top," Moira barked.

"Whew, that's a relief." Lucille sighed in relief, taking the last few steps up to the top floor.

"Ooh, this place is pretty!" Florian's eyes lit up with wonderment at what he saw. They could see the four sides of the tower with the clock faces transparent enough to see the hands, but that wasn't what impressed them. Just above the clock faces were elaborate stained-glass windows above. The sunlight that came from the dusky sky outside gave it a reflection that allowed the colours from the stain glass to shine down on the floor, giving it almost an ethereal look.

"Ooh, now this is a cozy little place. I see that our guardian pal decided to decorate the place a bit." Oswald noted how the room itself looked lived in, with all kinds of furniture and everyday objects that littered the area. Looks like Moira's description of Chrono's interest in mortals was not exaggerations.

"Chroooonoooo~ We're here!" Moira called out loudly throughout the room. It was loud enough to even hear the bells of the clock tower make a low noise from the vibrations.

It didn't take long after for a Seraph to appear before them. He looked no older than Florian when it came to age, but he did seem to be a slight taller than the silver-blonde seraph.

Chrono had lillac-coloured hair that flowed down to halfway down his back while the front of his hair was framed around his face. He had his hair tied up into a loose ponytail to keep it from interfering with his work. He had bright crimson eyes that glowed warmly in the dusky light.

His clothes were made up of a purple tunic robe with seraphic symbols woven into it. He had a curved heart-shaped birthmark that sat in the middle of his forehead, but it was mostly covered up by the circlet and a few strands of his hair that fell over his eyes slightly. He had brown mage boots and a shoulder cape that covered his neck and fell down to his ankles.

"Moira! Um, are these the people you told me were coming?"

"You betcha, meet Lulu, flower boy, greenie and the rabbit. Oh, and the Chirithy."

"Greenie?!"

"Flower boy?" Florian tilted his head in puzzlement.

"Moira, please stop calling me that, I'm not five. It's bad enough my Mom still calls me that," Lucille groaned.

"Why was I an afterthought?" Chi voiced her displeasure.

"Um...Hel-hell-" Chrono became timid and started to stutter over his words.

"Hey, are you ok-"

"Eeek!" Chrono teleported from in front of them all the way up to the top beam above them.

"Oh, c'mon, Chrono, they're not going to bite you!" Moira sighed loudly.

"Oh wow, you weren't kidding when you said he struggles with talking with others. The guy has no self-confidence at all." Oswald blinked.

"He's fast at running away, I'll give him that," Zen noted.

"Chrono, can you come down? Please? We just want to talk to you!" Lucille called out.

Florian glanced to a table full of everyday objects that humans used. He walked towards it and looked at it all with interest.

"Oh wow, that's quite a collection. Guess you aren't the only one who likes to pick up random stuff, huh, Flo?" Lucille noticed this and walked over next to Florian.

"There's a lot of things here that we can't find on our island," Florian told her as he picked up what looked like a soft blue foamed bat. "Like this thing, what is this?"

"Uhh...that's a good question."

"It's...a struggle bat. The people of this world have these special tournaments called 'The Struggle'. Those bats are used as part of it," Chrono answered. He had somehow teleported right next to both of them.

"Whoa! You sure know how to zip around the place quick!"

"I-I'm sorry! I won't do it again!" Chrono panicked.

"Wait, I wasn't scolding you or anything, Chrono!" Lucille quickly corrected.

"That's Chrono's time artes at work. It allows him to slightly manipulate the time around him, so he can teleport anywhere in a wink of an eye," Moira explained.

"I-I'm sorry. It's a nervous habit..."

"Gah, stop apologizing already," Moira scoffed.

"Sorry if we scared you, Chrono. I can understand how hard it is to connect to other people. I imagine you don't have a lot of people to talk to up here, huh?"

Chrono gently nodded. "Lord Yggdrasil is strongly against us making contact with people because their fickle nature makes them untrustworthy, but...I don't think they're all as bad as he thinks they are."

Lucille smiled and petted the boy's head. "You and Flo are really alike. You're both really into these ordinary objects we take for granted and you don't want to be isolated from everyone.

"Really? You're interested in this sort of thing too?" Chrono looked to Florian with curious eyes.

"You bet!" Florian cheerfully answered. "You've collected a lot of things I've never seen before, it's amazing!"

Chrono fainted lightly at the compliment.

"Um, not to act like a buzz kill, but we're a bit short on time," Oswald reminded Lucille and Florian.

"Oh, right. Chrono, Lord Kuroshi asked us to come here in order to find a way into the Realm of Darkness without using a keyhole. Is it true there's a way to enter the realm physically?" Lucille asked.

"Huh? Why do you want to go there?! It-It's dangerous for mortals! Moira never mentioned anything about that."

"Oh yeah, that part. I figured it would be best for you to hear it from them rather than me so I omitted that part," Moira chimed in to explain.

"It's really important that we get there. There's this really crazy Heartless trying-" Florian started to retell the whole story to Chrono. When Florian finished explaining the situation to Chrono, Chrono still had a conflicted look on his face.

"So, you're saying you need to find this Keyblade of Darkness that's somewhere in the Realm of Darkness? But...do you even know where to look?"

"We think it could be where Destiny Islands-my home-is currently, in that realm. We need to find that key if we want to stop this Heartless from unleashing all the darkness from that realm into ours," Lucille reasoned.

"...Are you sure you want to go there? I mean...I can get you there...but I can only use it once a day, and it's almost impossible to escape from that realm without outside help. You could be trapped there forever."

"We know, but if we do nothing, there won't be anything to go back to. At times like this, ya gotta go with what your heart tells you. For all of us, that means diving into this realm against the odds," Oswald also added.

"..."

"Chrono, I know this is a hard choice. What does your heart tell you that you should do?" Moira asked in a surprisingly un-Moira like way.

"...Well...personally...I don't want to put anyone in danger, but I don't want all the worlds and this world to be plunged into the Realm of Darkness either. If this is the only way...then I'll do what I can to help."

"Thank you, Chrono," Lucille thanked.

"Um, could you...also not tell Lord Yggdrasil that I helped you get inside the Realm of Darkness? He'd be **really** mad with me if he found out," Chrono then added meekly.

"So...why did we need to come to Twilight Town in order to get into the Realm of Darkness?" Zen questioned.

"Oh, that's easy! There's a door here that only Twilight Town has. It's very special and woven by ancient seraphic artes by the previous time seraphs before me."

"Ah, that's right. Moira said that Seraphs with time artes are very uncommon," Oswald recalled.

"That's right. Along with Empaths and Purifiers like Lord Yggdrasil, Time Seraphs are just as rare. So, Chrono is really the only choice for this world, as the door will only work for him." Moira nodded.

"Really? Only you can open this door, Chrono?" Lucille blinked.

Chrono nodded. "To ensure that the door could never be abused like the Door to Darkness, the previous time seraphs that watched over this world decided to add a security measure. The artes deeply woven into the door are designed to only obey the guardian of Twilight Town." Chrono then looked down at the ground shyly. "And...um...since I'm the only time seraph that exists right now, I was put in charge of this important duty."

"Geez, and I thought the pressure I felt from my guardianship was rough," Florian cringed.

"We call it the 'Door of Twilight'. Other than that, it can only open for me...it also needs to be a certain time of the day for it to appear."

"Aw geez, there's a time limit on the door too?!" Oswald cried out. Chrono visibly jumped and flinched at the loud response. "Oh...sorry about that, kid. It wasn't directed at you," Oswald quickly apologized.

"Go easy on him, rabbit. The kid's new to this whole social interaction," Zen lightly scolded.

"Um...the door hasn't appeared yet if that's what you're worried about. It appears at thirteen o' clock."

"Thirteen o' clock? But there's no such number like that on a clock. The highest you can go is twelve." Zen looked confused.

Chrono laughed softly. "That's why I'm here. I never said anything about waiting for the exact hour naturally. As you said, it doesn't exist in the normal flow of time."

"Ahhh, that's where your powers come in. That's something only you can do," Oswald clicked.

Chrono nodded. "Exactly. That's...also why I can't do it more than once a day. Since the hour doesn't exist naturally, it could cause an instability if I abuse it too much. Once a day is usually harmless enough to not affect time at all."

"So...by instability...you mean like Deja vu or something?"

Chrono gave it some thought before answering. "I guess that is one way to put it, but that's only a minor problem. A more serious problem would be creating distortions and rifts where the Heartless could sneak through from the Realm of Darkness."

"Ah, I see," Chi understood. "So to prevent the chances of a time rift or distortion being created by accident, you can't use your power too much in one day."

"Yes. To be honest, though, I haven't actually used my power to ever summon the Door of Twilight before now...I'm a little nervous that I'll mess up."

"It'll be fine, Chrono. I'm sure Lord Yggdrasil wouldn't have given you this role if he didn't think you could do it," Florian encouraged.

"You...really think that?"

Florian nodded earnestly.

"I'll...I'll try," Chrono replied with a determined expression as he headed further into the room, clearing old junk out of the way to reveal what looked like an old grandfather clock, but it was huge! It was big and wide enough that it looked more like a doorway than an actual grandfather clock.

Chrono breathed in deeply and then out. "Okay...here goes, remember what Master Matoya told you...keep calm and concentrate. Don't lose control of your power," He quietly whispered to himself the teachings that Master Matoya taught him during his short time being trained under her.

He outstretched one hand. It began to glow a sparkling light aura. As if by magic, the hands on the clock began to spin, slow at first but it picked up speed as the hands began to spin faster around the face of the clock.

They could see the sky of twilight town changing slightly as the clock was moving, as if the time of this world was being moved along with it.

Once it reached the twelfth hour, it changed and morphed into a new number, the number thirteen. The clock glowed a pale light before the face of the clock disappeared, showing what looked like a big black hole. It was so pitch black that you couldn't see anything inside.

"That's...a very ominous looking door," Zen commented.

"Well, this is the Door of Twilight. Are you...really sure about this? You won't be able to come back this way. It's more-or-less a one-way trip."

"Thanks, Chrono, I know that you're worried about us. But don't worry, we'll be fine! In fact, once we finish what we need to do and make it out of there, we'll come back and see you soon!" Lucille beamed.

"Really? You'll...come back to visit?"

"Yeah! I want to see more of this world! Lucille grinned.

"I would also love to know more about some of the stuff you gathered from this world," Florian agreed.

"If I know these two, they're notorious about keeping promises. So, if they say they'll come back, they will," Moira encouraged.

"But won't the worlds all become disconnected again? We may not ever be able to come back here," Zen reminded.

"I don't believe that. Our hearts will always find a way to bring us all back together again. Besides, where there's a will there's always a way!"

Zen sighed but gave a tiny smile that arched the corner of his lips. "Ever the optimist. I suppose one of us has to look on the bright side of everything."

"What's that meant to mean?" Lucille puffed her cheeks.

"You sure we can go through here? I feel like we'll fall the moment we enter inside." Oswald approached the door and tried to look down to see if there was a road or anything, but it really did look like a huge drop into the unknown.

"Um, that is what happens," Chrono answered.

"Seriously? Sheesh! Talk about takin' a blind leap of faith," Oswald groaned.

"Please stay safe. The Realm of Darkness is a dangerous place for mortals. It can make even the most strong-willed of people crumble and become susceptible to the darkness' malice," Chrono warned.

Lucille nodded. "We will. We're made of harder stuff."

"Besides, Lucille and the others have me to watch out for them," Florian reassured.

"Kid's got a point, who better to keep us safe than a Seraph?" Oswald added.

"Heh, I guess that's true." Chrono chuckled.

"Golly, it's totally pitch black! How are we supposed to know where to land?" Oswald commented again.

Florian approached the open door and casted what looked like a bubble of light around all of them. "Just to be safe, I'll cast a float spell for us."

"Good call, Flo." Lucille gave Florian a thumbs-up.

"Do me a favour and don't die while you're in there. You're too bloody useful and it would be a shame to lose you to the darkness." Moira smirked.

"Is that your way of saying you're worried about us?" Lucille countered.

"Pfft, if you die, Lulu, who will I have to watch over? You'd put me out of the job. Would you really want that for the Magnificent Moira Delune?" Moira huffed.

Lucille really didn't get Moira sometimes. She always speaks so cryptically.

"We better get going. We shouldn't leave this door open too long in case Heartless find out," Zen told Lucille.

"Lady Lucille, we must go," Chi informed the brunette girl.

"See you guys then. And remember, Chrono, we promised!" Lucille waved and winked to Chrono and gave a thumbs-up to him before the group steeled their courage and jumped into the unknown that awaited them beyond the Door of Twilight.

Once they had gone through the door, Chrono sealed away and shut the door tightly using time artes to keep it sealed until a time was needed for it to open again.

"Moira...? What's a promise?" Chrono wondered curiously.

"You don't know what a promise is? Man, you're slow. Well I guess you can say it's like a pact between friends."

"It's like a Seraphim pact?"

"Kinda, but without all the rules and fancy mumbo jumbo that it comes along with. Friends become friends because they want to be. You don't need a reason for it. Same reason why you don't need a reason to help people. You just do it because you want to." Moira winked.

"I never had friends before. This emotion is...tricky to understand, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't like it." Chrono looked confused and puzzled.

Moira petted Chrono's head as if she was comforting a child. "Trust me, even mortals can't understand their emotions sometimes. Everyone has to work through them, make sense of it all and then find their own answer. That's how heroes of legends are born. Even moi, the Magnificent Moira Delune, had her share of being confused by her heart's emotions."

"Even you, Moira?" Chrono looked up with curious eyes.

"Oooh, yeah. Life's not been a bed of roses for little ol' me. I found my answer, though, after I understood my heart a bit more, and I've stuck to it even to this day. I'm sure the same will happen for you once you get some more life experiences under your belt."

"Thank you, Moira." Chrono smiled kindly.

"Just...do me a favor and don't tell anyone about this. This is our little secret, kay? I've got a reputation to keep," Moira added in a whispered voice.

* * *

After what seemed like an endless fall, they landed gently on to the ground thanks to Florian's float spell.

"Looks like using that float spell was a good idea, Lord Florian," Chi commented.

Florian nodded. "Yeah, although I get the feeling that we would have been fine even if I didn't."

"So...this is the Realm of Darkness..." Lucille looked around to see a rather bleak sight, the ruins of a castle town. It seemed as if it was frozen and distorted by the realm's influence. Some parts were even gathering black goo puddles.

"Geez, you guys have to live in this dump?" Zen asked the Seraph.

"Well, we don't technically. We live in a place called the 'Sacred Grove'. It's where the Great World Tree is. It protects us and provides the light we need when we need to go outside the grove. I guess you could say the Sacred Grove is like a pocket of light within the Realm of Darkness."

"Golly, this tree must be pretty dang powerful if it can repel the darkness," Oswald whistled.

Florian nodded. "It is. The Great World Tree is one of the greatest sources of light and it has a direct link to countless worlds by its roots, or at least that's what Lord Yggdrasil teaches us." Florian nodded.

"Hm, then we better find this Ansem imposter as soon as possible. I don't think even this Great World Tree of yours will last long if he unleashes the darkness of this realm into the Realm of Light." Oswald nodded.

Florian nodded in agreement with the rabbit. "Right."

"So...anyone got any idea how we're supposed to find the remains of Lucille's world? I don't think this is the place we're looking for." Zen illustrated his point by pointing to the ruined castle town in front of them.

"The Door of Twilight must have randomly chosen a spot in the realm and dropped us here. I guess we'll have to walk to our location." Oswald guessed.

 _"I think Gula and I have an idea,"_ Ava chimed.

"You do?"

"Man, this is so weird hearing you guys talk to the thin air. If I didn't know better, I'd say you guys went crazy." Oswald shook his head.

"Funny enough, I've strangely gotten used to it." Zen sighed.

 _"There's two ways we can work around this. One, we could try using the keyblades, but considering Sora has the keyblade that connects to the Key of Darkness that we need to find here, they could prove unreliable,"_ Gula started.

 _"The other way that we could find what we're looking for is trusting Florian's guidance. He was the guardian of Destiny Islands before it fell to darkness, so he should still be able to trace it,"_ Ava added the second option.

"What do you think, Flo? You think you can locate it in this place?" Lucille turned to Florian.

The small seraph nodded. "Yeah, I'll give it a try."

Zen's bandaged arm gave out an aura of darkness, but it quickly was diminished as soon as he clasped his arm tightly. It felt hot and painful, but Zen managed to swallow down any noise of pain by gritting his teeth.

"Zen?! Are you alright?" Lucille panicked.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine. It must be the influence of this realm. The claw must feel right at home in its own domain," Zen reassured them, although they could tell he was in some pain.

"Maybe you should have waited back in Twilight Town. This was a risky idea." Oswald looked concerned.

"I'm fine, rabbit. I don't need to be coddled," Zen retorted.

"He's just worried about you, Zen. We all are!" Lucille lightly scolded. She was more concerned than insulted, though.

"I know that, I do. But I'm not going to be treated like some delicate flower because of this," He argued.

"If it gets too much, let us know, okay?" Oswald told him.

"Yeah, thanks." Zen nodded. "I'll be fine, though. I'll admit it was unexpected but, after living with this thing for ten years, it's nothing I can't handle."

"..."

"Even so, Merlin's magic can only do so much for ya. Don't push yourself," Oswald warned.

"I think it's this way." Florian pointed to the north, using his now faint connection to Destiny Islands to locate it in the realm.

"Alright, let's do this! The sooner we find that key the better." Lucille punched the air.

"Hey, island girl." Zen grabbed her arm before she could take the first step.

"What now? And would you stop calling me that? I thought by now you'd stop it," Lucille huffed.

"Don't do anything stupid while you're in here, alright? You can't afford to make mistakes in this place. Even you aren't invincible to the darkness' influence."

Lucille turned and gave an uneasy smile. "I know that this place is dangerous, and to be honest, just being here feels terrifying. Can't imagine what it's like for anyone who ended up stranded in this place. Still it's a bit late for regrets now, huh?"

"I suppose so. I just hope that this gamble paid off. We won't be able to go back through the Door of Twilight unless we all learn how to fly," Zen sighed.

"Anyway, we'll be fine! So long as we stick together, we won't get lost or separated, and we're definitely getting out of here," Lucille boldly stated.

"Hahaha, confident, I like that." Oswald laughed. "The little lady's got a point, though. We're too stubborn to call it quits now, let alone give up."

"We should follow Lord Florian then, Lady Lucille," Chi spoke up to get their attention.

With that they started their journey into the depths of this realm. They were not sure what they'd find down here but their goal was certain, find the keyblade of darkness and close that door to darkness for good.

* * *

Okay, that's this chapter done and dusted! Next up will be the final chapter of the first KH story! And then onwards to Chain of Memories! *Celebrates*

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited and alerted this story. Your support has been amazing, and I hope to do my best for the future arcs of Radiant Dawn! I plan to do all of them so please look forward to them! I might leave KHUX out since not everyone plays the mobile game, but Backstory Cover (The movie that was included with 2.8) is definitely going to be given the Radiant Dawn treatment. XD

As you might have noticed, Crystal Tower has also been mentioned. Oh don't worry, this won't be the last time we hear of Crystal Tower. I've got big plans for that world and it'll play a bigger part as the saga continues. *Laughs evilly*

Anyways, onwards to the review corner! Since there weren't many reviews to answer from the Aqua episode, I'll add the ones from the previous episode before since I wasn't able to answer them in Episode 20.

 **~:Review Corner:~**

 **Mysterygirl145** : I'm glad that you enjoyed it! And yes, I had a lot of fun writing Xei's and Ryu's lines. =3 They've only appeared in the special episode so far but don't worry, they'll show up again in the actual chapters in future arcs. Think of this as like an early introduction to them. XD

Originally Medea was going to be another keyblade wielder but I decided she's probably better as a Seraph, especially since the Land of Departure was in perfect balance between light and dark so it would make sense that there would be a Guardian there to keep an eye on it.

Also, I'm glad you like Haru too. =3 And I like your ideas. One of your theories might be closer than you think. I won't say which theory, though. =p

 **Guest:** I'm glad that you like the special episode. I hope to continue to enjoy the story and future installments once KH 1's story is concluded.

Now for the reviews from episode 20!

 **Guest (1):** I do plan to do Birth by Sleep definitely. =3 I'm currently following the games in the order they were released rather than chronology. However, I have thought about letting the readers decide which game they want to see next after Chains of Memories is done. So, I might do that instead. If Birth By Sleep wins then that will be the next one. =3

You do have some good ideas, though, for the Hallow Bastion part. It's a clever way of adding the RD cast while keeping to the flow of story in BBS. I'll consider it when we get to that part. ^-^

 **Guest (2):** Yeah, all I can say is #PrayforAqua. =(

 **Guest (3):** You know, I had thought about this. I plan to leave it open for now but eventually, I'm going to let you lovely readers decide which pairing should be final. I feel you guys should get the final say on that part since it was originally planned to start solidifying the romantic themes around KH2 arc perhaps, so it gives you guys time to decide which pairing you want to see together in the end. =3 Sokai is definitely gonna be a thing no matter what, though. =P

 **Ctran:** Hey! Long time no see! Thanks for reviewing. =3 I don't know if they'll meet Aqua but who knows? In Days, they might meet a certain nobody or two of them. ;)

I feel like I must also clear up something about Ava and Gula. They're technically not their ancestors. They lost their bodies when the world fell to darkness at the end of the Keyblade War. They're more like their spiritual reincarnations that were able to share the same body when their hearts merged with Lucille's and, in Gula's case, Zen's. I hope that makes some sense. XD If you hadn't read the Aqua episode yet, it's up now. I hope you like it. =3

 **Gry21:** Hmmm, it's possible but it depends on how the story goes. I can only see Ava and Gula do something like that if it was in very dire circumstances. However, you are right about one thing. The other three will definitely show up by the time we get to Dream Drop. I had thought about introducing one of them in Chains, but I can't find good ways to introduce them that early. It might be either Days or KH2 where the remaining three successors will be introduced.

 **Chirithy564:** lol, I'm glad that you really like the chapters. XD

And please don't worry, not everyone can be on Fan Fiction net all the time so sometimes a story can get updated without people noticing. =3

It's great to hear that you've really grown to like Ion. Despite only being mentioned briefly in the earlier chapters, he's gotten talked about quite a lot among the readers. So proud of him. :')

And yes, yes he is but its why we love him. XD Anyways with the realm of darkness being what it is, they probably won't bump into Aqua since she might have already been there and went to another part of the realm or she hadn't arrived since there is no time in the Realm of Darkness.

But they might meet a certain other person there...like a certain mouse or a certain silverette, who knows? ;)

But if you want to read the Aqua Episode, it's the previous episode before this one, please enjoy. =D

 **Guest (4):** Darn that dirty old man, he ruins everything he touches. =( But yeah, that's what I thought when I watched backstory cover too. I was like 'they're totally talking about Xehanort, aren't they?' XD Still get the feeling that the Master of Masters had intended all of this to happen, though for what reason even I don't know. X3

 **Guest (5):** The Aqua episode is now up if you would like to know how Aqua's doing. =3

Also good question. Poor Roxas gets mind-confuzzled all the time. He'll probably have a 'wth' moment if they do ever meet. XD

 **Guest (6):** Hmm, I think in KH2, I'll probably do original worlds since I don't want to copy-paste the same worlds that Sora goes too most of the time. Lucille deserves her own worlds to explore too. ;p But Agrabah will most likely be one of the returning worlds, along with Disney Castle and Radiant Garden. I definitely want to do a festival thing for one of Lucille's adventures so maybe there will be another Dream Festival when they arrive at Disney Castle. Maybe Radiant Garden could have one too...? ;)

I can totally see Aster using the Hallow Bastion Restoration Committee to make that happen. XD

 **Mysterygirl145:** Me too, I'm actually glad I didn't go with my original idea where Ion died. It was mostly because I thought it would give Zen character development. XD

But I thought, "You know what?" Both Ion and Zen went through enough suffering as it was so I decided to make him human since it would have been impossible for a Seraph to go back to being one after being tainted by darkness. Plus, this also makes Ion the very first Seraph (well former seraph now lol) to ever come back from becoming a Heartless, which was considered a death sentence to most Seraphs. =3

 **Guest (7):** I'm surprised that a lot of people didn't see Ion changing into a human, but I'm glad people liked it regardless. =3

 **Guest (8):** All in due time, my dear reader. ;3 SoraXKairi ship will definitely set sail eventually, but I want to pace it so it comes out more natural. If that makes sense. =D

 **~:End of Review Corner:~**

Anyways until the next chapter, happy reading, everyone, and thank you again for everyone who has supported this fan fic for it to get this far, and here's to the future fan fics to come! Moogle Empress, out!

Moogle: Kupo!


	24. Final Episode: Beyond The Door

**Final Episode: Beyond The Door**

* * *

Journeying through the Realm of Darkness, Lucille looked around what seemed to be the remains of a town. She couldn't help but shiver at the thought of what her home must look like in this place.

"You okay, Lucille?" Oswald approached to ask the brunette.

"I'm fine, Oswald. Just a little nervous about seeing what's become of my home in this place. Would it look similar to this place?" Lucille illustrated her point by motioning her hand to the area around them.

The tiles of some houses were broken off and stuck in mid-air, and the streets were covered in more black pools of puddles and bulbous black pods that grew on the walls.

"Well, I can't sugarcoat it, it won't be pretty," Oswald admitted. "Just think what Radiant Garden became when it transformed into Hallow Bastion and make it ten times worse."

"I see..." Lucille sighed sadly.

"Don't worry, Lady Lucille. I'm sure there's a way to save your world and all the others that got swallowed into this realm! Once the Door to Darkness is taken care off, it should return all the worlds that were lost."

"Not all the worlds, there's some that might refuse to wake up even after having their hearts returned. You know the sleeping worlds?" Oswald shook his head.

"I don't think Destiny Islands would become a Sleeping World. I can imagine if the world has been trapped here for a long time that it would take longer to awaken," Florian suggested.

"I've been meaning to ask, Flo. The Realm of Darkness is where all the Seraphim live, right?"

"Yup, I know this place isn't what most imagined our kind to thrive in, but this is still our home. Our resistance to darkness in this realm makes us well-equipped to maintain the balance between light and dark from here," Florian explained.

"No wonder Ion hated being in the Realm of Darkness for long periods. The place is depressing. Don't you guys have a secret sanctuary of some sort?" Zen bluntly commented.

Florian nodded. "You mean the Sacred Grove. It's our home in this realm. It creates a dimension pocket within the realm that allows it to overflow with light thanks to the Great World Tree. Although we are resistant to the darkness in this realm, we still need light to survive, just like the Heartless need darkness, but the Great World Tree provides that light for us. We'd be lost without it."

"That's some tree if it can create its own realm within another realm." Oswald whistled.

"It sounds like such an amazing tree! Aw man, I wish I could see it." Lucille went starry-eyed.

"Good luck getting pass Lord Yggdrasil. He's the Guardian of the Great World Tree." Florian sighed.

"Boo..." Lucille puffed her cheeks in disappointment.

"At least this Great World Tree is in good hands. Who better to entrust your most important source of light than your own leader?" Oswald shrugged.

Florian nodded. "That's true. Lord Yggdrasil might be a stick in the mud for most things, but he's super strong. Even the Nobodies are terrified of him."

"Nobodies?" Lucille looked confused.

"Oh, right! You've never seen them yet," Florian recalled. "Nobodies are basically the shells of people who are created when someone loses their heart to the Heartless. They can be either good or bad people, so long as they have a strong heart to produce one. Being a Nobody, though, means you don't really exist, not in the same sense as you guys do," Florian explained.

"That sounds...pretty lonely." Lucille felt sorry for the Nobodies. So there were essentially people who didn't exist at all?

"Does that mean Seraphim can have Nobodies?" Zen wondered.

Florian shook his head. "No, although we have physical form in this realm, in the realm of light we are no different than ghosts. So there's no shell for us to create should the worst happen to us."

"I see. So a Seraph can't become a nobody since in the Realm of Light, they don't have physical form to begin with. And they can't stay in that realm without a vessel or host to anchor them," Oswald understood.

"So, these nobodies are scared of your leader, huh?" Lucille decided to brighten the mood up a little, "Heh, your leader must truly be an intimidating figure."

Florian chuckled at this. "You have no idea, Lucille. But I think deep down, he cares for everyone, even mortals. He's just too proud to admit it."

"Sounds like another person I know," Lucille thought of Riku but her cheer dampened a little when she remembered Riku's current state. "I hope you're okay, Riku..." She quietly prayed. "We'll save you somehow."

"Is that...?" Oswald became alert when he saw a familiar figure turn a corner around a ruined house. His heart quickened at the thought of it being who he thought it was. "Hey, wait!" Oswald charged ahead to chase after the figure.

"Oswald?!"

"Hey, rabbit! Don't run off, we can't afford to get separated!" Zen shouted at him before chasing after the rabbit. The others followed suit to see where Oswald was going.

"Mr. Oswald, come back! It's easy to get lost in this realm!" Florian warned. He knew the dangers of this realm very well.

When they caught up with Oswald, he was standing in what used to be a plaza of some sort, leading to a castle in the distance.

"Whew, we managed to catch up with you!" Lucille panted.

"Geez, rabbit! What happened to staying together so we wouldn't end up getting split up?" Zen growled.

"Sorry..." Oswald apologized. "I just...for a moment, I could have sworn I saw Mickey."

"King Mickey? Here?! The same one that Donald and Goofy are looking for?" Lucille looked around intently for any sign of the mouse.

"But why would the King be here?" Chi wondered.

"Mr. Oswald. The Realm of Darkness is known to create illusions to trick people who are trapped inside to lure them into a trap," Florian warned.

Oswald nodded. "I know. I guess my heart acted before my brain could catch up." Oswald scratched his head.

"Chrono wasn't kidding when he said this place was dangerous. We better be careful, too," Lucille reminded.

"I wonder if there's a way to tell an illusion from a real person?" Zen wondered.

Chi noticed something coming this way and panicked. "Master Oswald, behind you!"

Oswald turned sharply to see a swarm of multiple heartless coming this way in the form of a tornado. Just as they all prepared for battle, an unexpected ally appeared to help them. With the Star Seeker keyblade in hand, they easily swatted away the swarm that had targeted them.

The tornado swarm of heartless scampered off, scared off by the keyblade.

Oswald froze in shock when he recognized those two round ears, which he would know from anywhere. "M-Mickey?"

Mickey turned around and looked just as shocked as Oswald. "Wait...Oswald...? That...that is you...right?"

"Ah...y-yeah. Long time no see, huh?" Oswald laughed sheepishly. He was taken by surprise when Mickey hugged him almost instantly.

"Oswald! I've been looking all over for ya for all these years! Boy, am I glad to see you again! Where did you go? I was so worried! Everyone at the castle was!" Mickey was overjoyed to finally see his older brother again after what felt like generations.

"I'm...glad to see you again too, Mickey," Oswald started before he put Mickey in a headlock. "First thing first, Mouse! What WERE you thinking?! You've got a lotta nerve leaving the castle! What would happen if something happened to you?! You doofus!"

"Ow! Okay! You have a good point! Uncle! Uncle!" Mickey flailed a little but Oswald soon released his hold, still tapping his foot in annoyance at Mickey, waiting for an answer. "I know. As a King, it was risky to leave the castle. But I had to go and investigate what's been happenin' with all the worlds. Besides...I always wanted to apologize to you on the off-chance that we did meet each other again." Mickey shook his head.

"Apologize? I'm the one who should be apologizing, Mickey." Oswald sighed. "I was just downright jealous of you, I admit that now. That's why I got so angry with you and well...it kind of escalated to a point where I just wanted to escape my responsibilities as the Prince. I didn't mean any of those horrible things I said to you. I'm really sorry."

"Aw shucks, Oswald. There's nothin' to forgive." Mickey smiled sadly and patted Oswald's back. "To be honest, I'm the one who should be asking you to forgive me. I should have realized how you felt sooner so I could have done something to help. I'm sorry for ignoring it for so long to the point where it caused a rift between us. I guess we both acted pretty silly, huh?"

Oswald smiled softly. "Yeah, I guess that's what happens when you put two hot-blooded royals together in one room. Anyway, don't worry, Mickey. I forgave ya a long time ago. Becoming a Keyblade Master has really made me a better person in the end, so I should really be thanking you for setting me on this path."

"Gosh, really? Now that I think about it, you sure seem to have mellowed out a bit." Mickey smiled.

"What's that meant to mean, Mouse? I've still got plenty of spunk. I ain't old," Oswald huffed.

"I'm happy for them. It's good that things have finally healed between them." Lucille smiled at the sight of the two brothers.

"It's so touching~ I wish I had a sibling of my own..." Chi sniffed, getting teary-eyed at the sight.

Mickey then noticed the people behind his brother. "Gosh! I never expected to see you folks down here. What brings you to the Realm of Darkness?" Mickey asked. "This place isn't safe."

"It's an honour to meet you, your Majesty." Lucille bowed respectfully.

"I think it's best if you give him the details, Rabbit."

Oswald nodded. "Mickey, we'll explain why we're here, but I want to know why you are here of all places, too."

Mickey nodded in agreement. "Sure thing, let's find a place where we won't get ambushed by Heartless first."

* * *

Finding a safe place in an otherwise Heartless-infested realm, they proceeded to tell Mickey everything that happened on their journey.

"Gosh, so much has happened, ya guys. So you're here to find the Key of Darkness to lock away the Door to Darkness?" Mickey summarized.

Oswald nodded. "That's the plan anyway."

"Why are you here, your Majesty?" Chi asked. "This place is dangerous for one of your station."

"Truth is, I'm lookin' for a friend, but I'm also here because I want to shut the Door to Darkness too—well, technically it's called Kingdom Hearts, but not as you know it. Think of it like a smaller collective world of hearts. I thought my keyblade would be enough, but apparently it requires a certain two keyblades."

"Yeah, my brother has one of those keyblades. The other that was forged in this realm should be still in Destiny Islands, or at least...what remains of it."

"I'm really sorry to hear about your world being devoured, Lucille. Don't you worry, though. Once we shut that door for good, I'm sure Destiny Islands along with all the other hearts of the worlds the Heartless brought to this realm will return home, along with their people," Mickey reassured.

"Thank you, your Majesty," Lucille thanked. "So the Door to Darkness is actually a smaller version of the real Kingdom Hearts..."

"You said that you're looking for a pal of yours? Who is this person?" Oswald asked.

"She's a Keyblade Master like the both of us. Her name is Aqua," Mickey answered.

"Aqua...? Huh...that strangely sounds familiar..." Zen felt a strange sense of nostalgia hearing that name for some reason. He couldn't remember when or where, though.

"You know her?" Mickey questioned curiously.

"I don't think so...maybe I heard it from Ion?" Zen shook his head.

"Well, she's right here in the Realm of Darkness right now. I've been meaning to find her so I can help her escape," Mickey continued.

"Maybe we should help look for her too? It's dangerous for her to stay down her. Just how long has she been in this realm?" Florian asked.

"Ten years," Mickey answered.

"Ten?! I don't think I could last a year trapped in this place! We need to help her!" Lucille panicked.

"No, you guys need to get to that door and close it before that Ansem feller unleashes all the darkness of this realm on to the Realm of Light." Mickey shook his head.

"But what are you gonna do?" Oswald questioned.

"I need to keep lookin' for Aqua, but I'll keep an eye out for this Keyblade of Darkness too. If I find Aqua or this key first, then I'll come running to help ya guys seal that door," Mickey told them.

"I suppose I can't stop ya. I know how stubborn you can be, Mickey. Just do me a favor and don't die. If you die before me, mouse, I'm going to be really angry. If I wasn't miffed at you before for running away from the castle, I'll be livid if you get yourself killed!" Oswald warned.

Mickey nodded. "Gotcha. You stay safe too, Oswald. Can you guys take care of him? I know he can be a handful."

"Heh heh, of course, your Majesty." Lucille giggled.

"Weren't we already doing that?" Zen teased.

"That's fine talk coming from you, kid." Oswald tapped his foot in annoyance at Zen.

"We should hurry then, before it's too late to do anything," Chi told them.

"Stay safe, guys, and watch for the Heartless. They're much more of a dangerous threat down here." Mickey bade them farewell before heading off to continue his search for Aqua.

"I'm glad that you guys were able to patch things up. Will he be okay on his own?" Lucille turned to Oswald.

"Don't worry about Mickey-that's my job to worry about him," Oswald joked lightly. "Anyway, he's been trained under Master Yen Sid too, so if he made Mickey a True Keyblade Master, then he can take care of himself."

"A True Keyblade Master? There's a difference?" Florian looked confused.

"Eh, a lot of people mistake those who carry Keyblades for Masters even though they're beginners-like Sora, for example. It's just a fancy term within the ranks of Keyblade Masters," Oswald answered.

"All this talk about Keyblade Masters makes my head dizzy." Lucille shook her head.

"I'm with you there," Zen chimed in agreement.

"So, which way did you say that we need to go, Florian?" Oswald asked.

Florian pointed towards the castle that seemed to strangely radiate despite the lack of light within this realm. "I think if we go through that castle, it'll take us to a new area that will lead us towards where Destiny Islands is."

"How is that possible? Wouldn't we just be inside the castle if we enter it?" Zen asked,

"The Realm of Darkness works very differently from the Realm of Light. This realm distorts and changes on a constant basis, but at the same time is frozen here. If we had someone like Chrono, we could go back and forth in time in this place without the usual consequences."

"So...Even if we go inside this castle, we could get transported to somewhere else entirely?"

"Right." Florian nodded.

"I'd say we try it. It's worth a shot," Lucille recommended.

"Suppose we won't get anywhere by just standing here. Let's go." While hesitant, Zen agreed in the end.

"This place feels really menacing and creepy. I really don't like it here." Chi shivered. Being a Dream Eater in nature, she was sensitive to the negative air of this place. Lucille picked her up and carried her in her arms.

"Don't worry, Chi. I'll carry you with me, that way you'll know that we're right with you," Lucille warmly reassured the tiny Dream Eater.

Needless to say, Chi was quite satisfied with this arrangement and snuggled quite comfortably in Lucille's arms.

They followed Florian, who took the lead as their guide in this place, and headed towards the large castle in the distance.

"I wonder who's castle this was..." Lucille wondered thoughtfully.

"I think this was Cinderella's Castle," Chi answered her.

"Cinderella...wasn't she one of the Princesses of Heart?" Zen recalled.

Chi nodded. "In the Book of Prophecies, it mentioned this world among many others. Agrabah was one such world mentioned in the book too."

"It sucks that we still don't understand a word of it." Lucille shook her head.

"Maybe you could get the Foretellers to help you make sense of it? I mean, it's from their Era so of course they're going to know how to read that language," Oswald suggested.

"That's a good idea, actually-and Gula can finally earn his keep," Zen teased.

 _"Hey!"_ Gula gave a defiant retort at that comment.

"I wonder how Cinderella's world fell..." Lucille wondered.

"I think I might have already said this before," Florian turned to Lucille. "There's not enough of us to protect every world, so chances are that this world was left unprotected. Without anyone to keep the world's heart safe, it would be easy for anyone to call the Heartless there."

"...So some worlds are just left to fend for themselves?"

"Yeah, I feel bad that we're unable to do more." Florian sadly nodded.

"I can only imagine how it must have felt to be in such a horrible situation like that. Heartless swarming all over with no place to hide...I can't help but think about how everyone on the Islands must have felt as our world fell into darkness." Lucille involuntarily shivered at the thought of how the last moments of the people she knew from her home were like for them, especially her parents.

They eventually reached the large castle doors without much trouble.

"I half expected the floor beneath to give way-knowing our habit to attract trouble," Zen noted.

"Just be glad that it didn't," Oswald added.

"Okay, let's see where this leads us to next." In one bold move, Lucille pushed the doors open. They felt a flash of light that blinded them for a moment.

When they opened their eyes next, they found themselves in a place far different from the one they had just been in only seconds before.

"Whoa...Florian was right. This realm seems to be all over the place with all the worlds it has eaten away at here." Oswald whistled.

"In this realm, there's nothing to stop worlds from colliding with each other, so the space between them changes and distorts from time to time. That's why it's so easy for people to get lost here."

"I can see why. The place is a literal maze," Zen noted.

"So where are we now?" They found themselves in what looked like a dark and distorted forest.

"I'm not sure...but I think we need to go that way next." Florian pointed in the direction that they needed to go using his connection to Destiny Islands to locate it in this ever-changing landscape.

"Alright then, lead the way then." Lucille nodded.

"Watch out for Heartless," Oswald warned everyone as they headed deeper into the forest.

* * *

As they continued further into the depths of the realm, fighting any Heartless that tried to ambush them, Zen's arm was starting to act up again.

"Tch...not again...!" Zen tried to quell the pulsing that was making the Heartless claw more twitchy than it ever was in the Realm of Light. He used his free arm to tighten the bandaged arm in an attempt to get it under control. After a few moments, it calmed down once more.

"Zen, are you alright?" Lucille asked with concern.

"Yeah...I'm okay. The further we go in, my arm becomes more active. Maybe we're getting near to where we need to be. Either that or we're getting near to where that Ansem imposter is." Zen nodded.

"It looks like Merlin's magic is starting to lose its effectiveness against the claw. The realm must be making it stronger somehow." Oswald frowned in concern.

"Oh, the irony, my own power has become my own worst enemy. Why am I not surprised?" Zen dripped with sarcasm and rolled his eyes.

"We need to hurry and do what we came here for and escape. I don't like the idea of Zen suffering like this." Florian renewed his determination to pin-point their next direction.

"I'm fine, Florian, Don't worry. I refuse to let this place get the better of me. I've got pride too," Zen reassured.

Oswald's rabbit ears perked up when he heard a sound coming from not far from them. "Who's there? Come out and show yourself!" He summoned his keyblade and pointed it towards the unknown arrival.

"Wait...Riku?" Lucille recognized the person almost immediately after the initial surprise wore off.

"Lucille? Why are you and your friends here?" Riku looked just as surprised to see them here.

"Oh god, it's **you**. I warn you, punk. You start doing any funny stuff and I'll-" Zen growled but was nudged by Lucille's elbow rather hard.

"Okay...I deserved that jab." Riku sighed, he'd be lying if he didn't expect some of the group have suspicions about him.

"Riku! I'm so glad you're okay! But...I thought Ansem took over your body..." Lucille ran over and hugged her best friend.

Riku was hesitant at first but hugged back. "He still does, technically-apparently my heart took physical form in this place."

Florian understood this. "That would make sense. Riku's heart is very strong. It's exactly like how Master Ava and Gula's hearts survived in this realm for so long."

"Florian...I...owe you an apology," Riku started, feeling guilty with how he treated the Seraph based on Maleficent's words.

Florian shook his head. "It's okay, Riku. You were lost and misguided. I'm sure you really meant to help Kairi and Lucille."

"But I essentially tried to break your pact with Lucille by force. Not to mention all the other things I said and did."

Florian simply smiled. "But you did help us in the end, right? You protected us when that guy tried to attack us."

"You're too nice for your own good." Riku sighed.

"That's Flo for you. I want to apologize to you too, Riku. While I don't agree or forgive entirely some of the things you did, you're still my friend. I should have done more as your friend to help and understand you better. It's because I didn't that you ended up turning to Maleficent."

"Lucille...You have nothing to be sorry for. This was something I did to myself." Riku shook his head.

"But..."

Riku then patted Lucille's head. "You haven't changed at all. You're still such a mother hen." Riku smirked.

"Say what?!" Lucille bristled.

"By the way...who's this Ava and Gula that Florian mentioned?" Riku asked.

"...Ahhh...It's kinda a long story." Lucille laughed nervously.

 _"You could tell him if you want, Lucille. I'm sure Gula won't mind either,"_ Ava told her.

 _'We don't really have time for that though, Ava.'_ Lucille shook her head. "Sorry, I'll have to explain it to you another time, Riku. We need the Key of Darkness that should be in the remains of our world."

"You mean there's another keyblade in this realm?" Riku asked.

"Basically, when Sora's keyblade-the Kingdom Key-was forged, there was another that was forged in this realm upon its creation. Problem is we need to find that key before the Ansem that took your body tries to open the Door to Darkness and release all the Heartless in this realm on ours," Oswald explained.

"Alright, let me help too. I've got a score to settle with Ansem, and I want to make up for the things that I did. If it can help you and Sora, then I'm all for it."

"Of course! I mean, finding you is a bonus plus." Lucille nodded with a wide smile.

"Just so you know, I still don't like you. You seem sincere enough-or at least, you're less of an arrogant jerk as you were before, so I won't complain. I'm watching you, though," Zen forewarned.

"...I forgot how much I disliked you too." Riku narrowed his eyes.

"Alright boys, break it up! We've got bigger fish to fry," Oswald barked at the both of them.

"Oh dear..." Florian looked concerned.

Lucille sighed. "I had hoped they'd gotten over this."

Florian was soon able to locate where they should go next. "It's this way! I'm almost certain that we're almost there now." Florian pointed east.

"I'm a bit nervous to see what Destiny Islands look like now, but we have to do this." They continued towards their destination, which according to Florian was not that far away now.

* * *

Eventually, the dark forest soon became what looked like a giant cave as well as a giant white door that stood towering over them.

"That's gotta be the Door to Darkness, right?" Riku asked.

"Yeah, I'll bet my lucky foot that this is the door we're looking for." Oswald nodded.

"I don't understand...I tried to track Destiny Islands. Why did my link to that world bring me here instead?" Florian was puzzled at how they managed to get here first rather than finding Destiny Islands itself.

"It's great that we found the Door to Darkness but...we're still one keyblade short. It's no good if we don't have the right keyblades to lock it." Zen shook his head.

Just as Oswald was about to suggest something...

 _"Zen! Look out!"_ Gula warned the greenette in time for Zen to move out of the way as a demonic looking spear zoomed just by and struck the door itself. "Whoa!"

"So I was right...You two carry the hearts of two of the Five Foretellers, don't you? Things just got interesting~" A new voice that none of them had heard before echoed in the enclosed cavern.

They all turned around to face the mysterious threat as he summoned back his spear from the door, where it left a small hole where the spear struck the surface.

It turned out that spear wasn't the only thing in their arsenal. He had a sword, staff, and a bow as well, all Seraphic-forged.

This led Florian to a horrifying realization. "Wait...Are you...a Seraph like me?" Florian questioned.

"Hm, you're a sharp one. I wouldn't have guessed. What if I am?" The new arrival mocked.

The other Seraph looked older than Florian. If they had to guess in human years, they'd say he looked around nineteen or so. He had long wavy, black hair with purple highlights. It flowed past his shoulders only to end half-way down his back.

He wore an ebony collared tunic with golden rims and black pants underneath, but most of the tunic was covered by a long red cloak that was tattered at the ends. He was equipped with black fingerless gauntlets and matching greaves.

He also wore a skeletal beak mask that covered the upper half of his face to hide his identity from people. It couldn't hide the cold, dark purple eyes that were once full of life, but now just empty and lifeless, despite the obvious playful tone that the stranger oddly expressed.

Behind him stood what looked like multiple pillars with dark purple veins pulsing through it.

"Just what is your problem? Why did you throw that spear at us?" Zen demanded.

"Oh, that? Please, I wasn't even trying to hit you. I just wanted to get your attention." The dark-haired seraph snickered.

"Just...who are you exactly? Why are you here?" Lucille asked.

"My, it's been a long time since someone asked me that. I suppose I can indulge you. My name is Ratatosk, and, like little blondie over there just pointed out, I'm a Seraph-or perhaps-a better word would be a fallen seraph."

"A fallen seraph?! You mean you sided with the darkness? But why?" Florian was taken aback by this.

Ratatosk coldly chuckled as he summoned what looked like a small insect Heartless. He then picked up the small Heartless by the antennas, making it squirm. "You honestly **think** that I'd stoop so low as to side myself with these wretched dregs of darkness?" He asked in a cold tone before crushing the Heartless mercilessly with a seraphic arte. It gave a quick screech of pain before it faded away as fast as it was summoned.

The group could only look on in horror.

"This guy...he's not playing around." Oswald frowned intently. He had a feeling this Ratatosk was no pushover.

"It's true that my methods are different from what you and the other Seraph strive for. But the goal is not that different from yours. I seek to remake the world order, to restore it back to what it used to be."

"To what it used to be?" Riku repeated.

"So you're not trying to destroy all the worlds?" Lucille questioned.

"Oh, perish the thought!" Ratatosk dramatically answered before becoming serious. "Like I said, I seek to restore the world back to how it was before it became fragmented like this. If I wanted to destroy all the worlds, I could have done so already if I wanted to."

"Then...why not work alongside Lord Yggdrasil and the other Seraphim?" Florian wondered out-loud.

"Yggdrasil and I are far too different in our views. Besides, there's bad blood between us-things could never be the same after what happened all those years ago."

"You know Lord Yggdrasil?" Florian gasped.

"My history with him is none of your business," Ratatosk hissed before his lips curled in a sinister smile. "I must admit, though, I'm surprised he's allowed your Seraphim pact to go on for so long. He must see something extraordinary in you."

He then motioned his head towards what was behind him. "Do you know what rests here beneath all the darkness? You see, this place is part of the Great World Tree as well. The roots of that tree have spread far and wide across countless worlds. Even in this realm, it's presence is far-reaching. This is but one of the many. It would seem, though, that the amount of increased Heartless has caused this root to become gnawed and corrupted.

"To prevent any darkness from spreading through the other roots, it cuts off circulation to this root, trapping any heart that was travelling through the root. As a result, this place has become a festering nest for Heartless."

"But why would so many Heartless gather here of all places?"

"Because of all the hearts that accidentally got trapped here, silly. Heartless can't resist a good meal of hearts if it's served to them on a silver platter." Ratatosk smirked. "If someone were to seal this door, however, with the two keyblades required to seal it, there's a chance that it could destroy the Heartless feeding off the World Tree's root, freeing all the hearts that they have devoured in their gluttony."

"Wait, why would you tell us that? Are you on our side or are you our enemy?!" Lucille cried out in frustration.

"Friend or Foe? That's up to you to decide. I'm what you call a neutral party. Get in the way of my goals, though, and I will show no mercy, not even to kids like you."

They heard what looked like a huge battle taking place on the other side of the door.

"Looks like everything is going according to plan. Will the light conquer the darkness? Or will the darkness swallow it whole?"

Lucille frowned in confusion. She couldn't tell at all if this guy was an actual dangerous threat to them or a very weird ally.

"Let me tell you one thing, though, children," Ratatosk added before turning his back to them. "So long as the worlds remain fragmented and isolated like this, all that awaits them is stagnation and a slow death. Reuniting all the worlds as one under the same sky, bound by one heart-Kingdom Hearts-will they all survive. This endless game of good versus evil will never end-until one side is eliminated for good."

"But the world depends on the balance of light and dark! No world can live without one or the other!" Florian strongly disagreed.

"I see Yggdrasil's teachings have taken root. I'll admit I'm disappointed, but not surprised. I'd thought you of all people would have second thoughts on how the current state of the world order is." Ratatosk sighed.

"And what's wrong with how the world order is?" Oswald challenged.

"Do I really need to explain? The countless rules about not interfering with the affairs of other worlds? Upholding the lie that there are no other worlds besides their own? That infernal Dandelion Order and their hypocritical attitude towards the darkness. When their predecessors were the reason that the world was torn apart in the first place!" Ratatosk rose his voice at the end at the thought of that order of Keyblade Wielders.

"The Dandelion Order? You mean the Order of Light?!" Chi cried out.

"It's to protect those worlds, so the mistakes of the past can never be repeated," Oswald reasoned.

Ratatosk laughed at this. "Oh, please. Save me that recycled garbage. You seriously think that this will prevent a repeat of past mistakes? That didn't stop Xehanort. Even now he's still trying to ignite another Keyblade War using his Heartless and Nobody to fan the flames. Explain to me that."

"I..." Oswald couldn't deny it. He did have a good point about that.

'Who's Xehanort?' Riku wondered.

"The harsh truth is that no one wants to admit that they were the downfall of the old world and almost caused the world to fade completely into darkness. So what do they do? They fabricate their own version of the tale and try to bury the real reason behind the world order which is built on lies upon lies."

"I'm merely doing the job that your kind is too cowardly to do, even though you have the power to do so." Ratatosk narrowed his eyes.

"You don't sound that different from that crazy psychopath that's on the other side, if you ask me." Zen motioned his head towards the door.

"I'm merely saving the worlds in my own way-how is that anything similar to that mindless Heartless that can only think of darkness and destruction? But I digress, I've got places to be, but it would be so boring for you to just wait here with nothing to do, so I'll provide a playmate or two for you." With a snap of his fingers, a giant Darkside Heartless climbed out of the pit behind Ratatosk. Darkness had even started to seep out from it like a black fog.

"I thought you said you weren't working with them!"

"I'm not. Like I said, Heartless are mindless creatures. They'll simply follow anyone that has a strong heart. The Heartless aren't that hard to gain the obedience of so long as you show them you are far stronger than they are. They're quite primitive in that aspect. I have nothing to fear from them."

Riku visibly flinched at that line.

"Besides, light and darkness are not so different when you look at them closely. I'll use any source available to accomplish my mission. I'm nothing like Yggdrasil," He added quietly at the last sentence.

"I trust you guys are more than capable of taking care of this brute. Don't disappoint me now, children. I'll be eagerly anticipating our next meeting. Til we meet again." Ratatosk gave a casual wave before back flipping into the pit.

"What the?!"

They heard Ratatosk's mocking laugh echoing as the Darkside, along with two more Darksides forming beside it and multiple Heartless spewing out from it.

"Oh no! We'll be over-swarmed at this rate!" Chi panicked.

"We can't leave the door unprotected. If it opens now, they'll have a one-way ticket out," Zen warned.

"We'll just have to hope Mickey pulls through and finds that Key of Darkness in our place. Let's go!" Oswald shook his head.

They all brought out their weapons ready. "Florian? Should we go into Union Drive form?" Lucille asked the small Seraph.

Florian nodded. "Yeah, we'll have to be sure not to overdo it, though."

Lucille brought out both the Lux Arma and Ava's Keyblade.

"Huh?! Since when did you get one?!" Riku didn't take long to notice.

"Heh heh...yeah, there's a long story to that one too." Lucille laughed nervously. With that, Florian turned into a ball of light and entered Lucille's body. A body of light engulfed them, which turned Lucille's hair once again to silver-blonde.

"I'm never gonna get used to this hair colour change." Lucille shook her head.

As the Darkside Heartless got closer, Lucille made the first move. Using her union drive with Florian's powers, she jumped and floated in the air, creating aerial flurry strikes with both her Lux Arma and the keyblade given to her by Ava.

Riku and Zen, in a surprising turn of events, learned to set aside their differences for now to concentrate on fighting the Heartless, even aiding the other if a Heartless got too close to one of them.

Oswald concentrated on swiping his keyblade at the soldier heartless and casting his magic at the smaller ones, firing an array of different elements like fire, ice and thunder at them.

Chi couldn't do anything but watch on. She felt powerless and she really hated it. She noticed there was a small gap of the door that was open and peeked through it. She saw Sora, Donald and Goofy currently fighting the Heartless posing as Ansem. She panicked when she saw the trio in trouble.

"Lady Lucille! Sora's in trouble!" Chi called out.

"What?" Lucille blocked an attack from a Darkside Heartless' claw with one of the blades and pushed it back.

"Giving up already? Come on, Sora. I thought you were stronger than that," Riku called out to Sora while blocking another Heartless with his sword.

"Oh wait, I think he heard you, Riku! He regained his glide!" Chi informed, watching the epic battle unfold, while looking back from time to time to see how the others are doing.

"Lucille, let's try using a Union Arte! We might be able to get rid of all of them at once," Florian called out from inside Lucille.

"But if we do that, we won't have any strength or magic left to fight," Lucille warned.

"But we'll keep going back and forth with these Heartless if we don't stop them now. We have to!" Florian encouraged.

"Alright then, I trust you. Let's do this!" Lucille slowly nodded and charged her magical energy into both the keyblade and Lux Arma at once. Florian took care of the seraphic incantation, allowing both his magical energy to intertwine with Lucille's. Thanks to the Seraphim pact, this was an easy task to do.

"Prism Rain!" Both Lucille and Florian's voices mixed in union due to the Union Drive in effect, activating the seraphic arte and firing it at the Darkside and the various kinds of Heartless that were starting to take form.

The light from both blades fired into the air, raining down hundreds of small particles of light that really did look like rain, tearing and ripping the Heartless with ease, freeing the hearts they held captive in the process.

Dozens of hearts were freed and started to make their way upwards before disappearing, hopefully returning back to either their owners or somewhere safe from the Heartless.

The union arte had effectively eliminated all the Heartless that they had been fighting. Feeling the union drive effect waning, Lucille glided back down in time for Lucille to land gracefully on the ground before the Union Drive wore off. Florian appeared beside her as he reappeared from his small ball of light form back to his human one.

"Whew, man, I'm beat. Why are Union Drives so freaking exhausting?! They're awesome, but man do they drain your magic." Lucille gave a breath of relief.

"I think we need to work on our stamina when we see Master Merlin next." Florian nodded.

"Agreed." Lucille then flat out just collapsed on the floor, feeling absolutely drained.

"Lucille! Are you alright?" Riku ran over almost immediately to check on her.

"Yeah...I'll live. This is just a side-effect." She gave him a thumbs up.

"Honestly, you're going to be the death of me one of these days," Riku grumbled before outstretching his hand for Lucille to use.

She took hold of it, allowing Riku to help her back up. "You worry too much."

"And who's the reckless one who causes that? Of course I'm going to be worried about you." Riku crossed his arms.

Lucille blushed faintly. "Sorry...I always seem to be causing problems for you, huh."

"That isn't what I meant. You're one of my most important friends, along with Sora and Kairi. Everything that happened between us, I wish it had turned out different. You were right about Maleficent. I feel stupid for believing her word over yours. I'm just glad that you're alright even after what happened." Riku shook his head.

In the rare calm that they had right now, it gave Lucille time to recall some things that she had forgotten about, specifically _THAT_ part that happened in Monstro that she had managed to bury in her memories until now. Her blush got redder and she used the hood of her jacket to hide her head so Riku couldn't see her face being red as a tomato.

Riku raised an eyebrow. "Why are you wearing your hood?"

"N-No reason!" Lucille shook her head wildly.

It wasn't until they heard a painful sound coming from Zen that both Lucille and Riku looked back to where Oswald and Zen were.

Florian gasped. "Lucille! It's Zen's arm!"

They ran over to see what was happening. They saw that the bandage that was crafted by Merlin's magic was not having the intended effect as usual. If anything, the Heartless claw seemed to have gotten even bigger to a point where it looked monstrous.

"Okay...I'm not gonna lie, this actually hurts...a lot," Zen confessed while gritting his teeth.

"This is bad. Zen can't stay in the Realm of Darkness for much longer. That claw has grown in power to a point where it can act on its own if it grows any stronger from the darkness here!" Gula warned.

Riku looked around, wondering where that voice just came from. "Did anyone just hear that?"

Oswald gave a glare, which he was sure would have been directed at Gula if he had been present, before turning to Lucille. "It must have been that influx of Heartless we just saw. Zen's power comes from the use of absorbing darkness from the Heartless."

Riku stepped in between Lucille and Zen at this. "Then if he's going to attack anyone first, I'd rather he strike at me."

"Riku!" Lucille went wide-eyed at this.

"Tch, keep talking like that, jerk, and I might take you up on that," Zen scoffed. "Damn that Ratatosk, he probably knew about my arm and decided to bring in extra Heartless just to mess with me," Zen cursed the Seraph known as Ratatosk.

"Ratatosk...I wonder why no one has ever talked about him. Not even Lord Yggdrasil ever mentioned him to us." Florian looked concerned.

"I honestly can't tell if he's our enemy or not. He didn't seem to have any vendetta against us, although he made his hatred for Keyblade Wielders obvious," Oswald noted.

Chi wondered thoughtfully. "Hmmm, didn't he say that he had a history with Lord Yggdrasil? And that there was bad blood between them right now?"

Florian nodded sadly. "I wonder what happened to make them such bitter enemies. It sounded like they were close friends once..."

"It certainly makes mine and Mickey's fight seem like a childish spat compared to what those two Seraphs seem to have against each other," Oswald agreed.

As if on cue, Mickey finally arrived to the scene.

"Your Majesty," Riku greeted.

"Whoa! You already met the King?" Lucille demanded an answer.

"Yeah, we made contact with each other just before I found you guys," Riku answered.

Mickey nodded in confirmation of Riku's story. "That's right. Guess what? I also found what we're lookin' for!" Mickey showed the Kingdom Key D to everyone.

"That's the opposite keyblade to Sora's, right?" Florian asked to verify.

"You betcha, there's no doubt about it. It was in the same place where Destiny Islands's world heart would be."

"Then Lord Ion was right!"

Riku, upon hearing the former Seraph's name, recalled the Lux Charm that Ion had given him just before Ansem took over his body again.

"Wait, would this work for Zen? It should still have some light inside."

"Where did you get that?" Zen looked surprised.

"Ion...He used the last of his light to help me. He made this to protect my own heart from the darkness in this realm. I'm sorry about your friend..." Riku shamefully admitted.

"I'm sure Ion will be happy to know that his charm helped you," Florian cheered.

"...What?"

"Oh yeah, you don't know. We managed to save Ion in time before he was completely transformed into a Heartless," Lucille informed.

"Oh, really? That's just swell! But...how did ya manage that? I could have sworn once Seraphim become Heartless there was no goin' back for them," Mickey curiously asked.

"That's where things get a little...weird. You see, Lord Yggdrasil-" Florian proceeded to give a small summary of what happened to both Riku and Mickey.

"Gosh, so Guardian Ion is human now? He's no longer a Seraph?"

"Pretty much, Mickey." Oswald nodded.

"I see. I'm glad...seriously, though, I wish I had even an ounce of that willpower he has." Riku was relieved to hear that Ion had recovered. Although the fact that he changed into a human rather than back to a Seraph was a surprise no one saw coming, it was a pleasant one and a much better outcome than what could have been.

"You're...telling me." Zen was still in pain but managed to speak out.

"Try this anyway. It seemed to have worked for me so far." Riku handed the Lux Charm to Oswald.

Oswald placed the Lux charm over Zen. The magic seemed to work almost immediately. The light from the charm caused a calming effect over the Heartless claw that made it shrink down back to its usual size.

"I suppose I should thank you. I still don't trust you, though," Zen huffed.

Riku rolled his eyes and ignored that remark. They heard footsteps coming from beyond the door and saw Sora, Donald and Goofy arriving at the door itself.

"Sis! You did make it!"

"Well duh, I told you I would, didn't I? I take it you guys got rid of Ansem." Lucille grinned.

Sora nodded, "Yeah, he won't be bothering anyone or any world again." Sora grinned proudly.

"C'mon fellars, we need to shut this door!" Goofy reminded.

Goofy brought up a good point. With that, Lucille and her friends helped with trying to shut the doors by pushing it from Sora's side, but it proved to be just as heavy as it looked. Even Chi was trying her best to push it.

"C'mon!" Sora used all the strength he had left.

"Move, ya stupid door!" Donald quacked in frustration.

The door was indeed slowly moving, but it was too slow for everyone's liking. Chi accidently tripped when the door moved so far that she lost her footing, but she quickly got back up and pushed again.

"Gah! I swear I'm going to tear my own arms off at this rate. What were the Seraphim thinking when they made this?!" Lucille gritted her teeth as she even tried to pull at it from the opposite side.

"Heeey." Florian felt slightly offended, but he did agree, though. Why did they make this door so heavy?

"Hm?" Goofy poked his head inside and what he saw inside drew an astonished and panicked gasp from him.

"Stop staring and keep pushing!" Donald scolded Goofy since he noticed Goofy had stopped trying to push the door. He then poked his head over to see what it was that had Goofy stop in his tracks, and he gave a panicked yelp as well. "Huh?!"

"What's wrong, you two?" Lucille asked curiously.

Florian gasped as well when he saw what it was the other two were seeing. "Lucille! The Heartless!"

Lucille looked behind her to see, despite them using an Union Arte, the Heartless were starting to grow in number again from what they knew now as one of the Great World Tree's corrupted roots.

"The Heartless?!" Goofy and Donald cried out in union.

"Hurry!" Donald renewed his determination to push the door even harder now.

But despite their efforts, it didn't seem to be budging.

"C'mon, push harder!" Oswald called out.

"What do you think we're doing?!" Zen argued back.

"I can't..." Sora began to lose hope that this door would budge further until another hand came in to the help.

"Don't give up! C'mon, Sora! Together, we can do it!"

Sora was surprised but relieved at the same time to see Riku on the other side of the door and nodded. He renewed his effort with Riku helping to pull it from the other side like Lucille was doing.

"Here I was thinking you were hiding yourself away," Lucille teased.

"And let you two have all the glory? I don't think so." Riku gave a tiny smirk.

Just to make things more dire, more Darksides were starting to appear.

"Oh c'mon, is there no end to those things?!" Oswald pulled on his ears in annoyance.

"It's hopeless!" Donald cried out in defeat.

"Quit quacking and keep pushing, Duck! We did NOT come this far just to call quits now!" Oswald barked before pushing even harder against the door, using his whole body weight to try and move it.

Lucille and Florian looked at each other before nodding, as if they made a silent agreement on something. "Zen, Oswald...Thank you for everything. I promise we'll meet each other again back in the Realm of Light soon." Lucille turned to Zen and Oswald, who looked rightly puzzled by Lucille's words.

"Donald, Goofy, you better take care of my brother while I'm away. I'm counting on you to take care of him. You know what he's like."

"Ha?" Donald looked confused too.

"Sis, what are you talking about?" Sora looked fearful.

Lucille turned to Sora before giving a trademark smile that the twins were infamous for. "Well somebody's got to keep the Heartless off your backs. Take care of Kairi, Sora. If you leave her alone for too long, I'll be angry. It's rude to keep a girl waiting, you know."

Lucille and Florian then ran back into the other side of the door.

"Lucille?! What are you doing? You'll be trapped on that side!" Zen yelled out.

"Lady Lucille! Wait for me!" Chi chased after them and managed to use its magic to teleport on to Lucille's shoulder. "How dare you leave your personal guardian behind like that?" Chi huffed.

"I guess there's no stopping you, huh, Chi? Florian, you ready?"

Florian nodded. "I'm not sure what will happen if we use Lord Yggdrasil's arte here, but if I'm right, it should be able to purify the Great World Tree's root, just as Ratatosk hinted to us. But we have to make sure the door is locked first."

Lucille nodded. "At this rate, anything's worth a try. Let's do this!" Lucille fused back with Florian back into their Union Drive. They knew that they had used up most of their magical energy from the last Union Arte, so they had to time this particular arte right.

To bide for time, Lucille brought out both the Lux Arma and Ava's Keyblade once more before jumping into the air and activating the glide ability as they proceeded to take down the Darkside Heartless one by one.

Below them, they saw Mickey, who was ready with the Kingdom Key D keyblade in hand, ready to use it. "Now, Sora! Let's close this door for good!"

"Close it, quick!"

"But...Lucille, Riku and the King are still on the other side!"

"We can't just leave them there!" Oswald chimed in with Sora.

"Don't worry. There will always be a door to the light," Mickey reassured.

"Sora, you can trust King Mickey!" Goofy also tried to reassure Sora of the dilemma in front of them.

"Now, they're coming!" Riku warned.

"Right! Florian, this is it. Time for one last lightshow," Lucille told the Seraph inside her.

"Right! Let's make this Union Arte count, for everyone that's depending on us to succeed!"

As they proceeded to focus the very last of their magic energy into the arte, with Florian taking care of the seraphic incantation for the arte, Mickey turned his head to face those pushing the door on the other side.

"Donald, Goofy, Oswald...thank you."

"You...better keep your word, Mouse. I mean it." Oswald gritted his teeth and, with a heavy heart, he accepted Mickey's choice.

After what seemed like ages of pushing, the doors were finally starting to close in.

"Should we really be doing this? What if they're trapped there forever...?" Zen asked mainly to himself.

 _"We just have to trust that they'll find a way back. She has Ava with her. She'll keep Lucille safe. I trust Ava more than anyone. She always does the right thing,"_ Gula reassured.

"Riku...Take care of Lucille, okay?"

Riku nodded. "I will. Also...take care of her too." Riku implied Kairi in the last sentence, which even Sora was able to pick up on. He nodded to his best friend just as the door finally clicked shut.

Sora then proceeded to point the Keyblade towards the door to unlock it. On the other side, Mickey was doing the exact same thing.

In perfect union, the two keyblades worked their magic and, at long last, locked the keyhole within the door so that it would remain shut forever. The door then vanished in a soft glow of many lights.

"Well...looks like we're officially stuck here," Riku made a light joke despite their situation.

Mickey smiled. "We'll be fine, Riku. And don't ya worry, we'll get out of this place together. All of us." Mickey then looked up to where Lucille was.

"What is she doing? Is it another one of those union artes?" Riku wondered.

"They must be planning to purify the Great World Tree's corrupted root here in order to erase the Heartless that are feeding on it," Mickey guessed.

More of the Heartless began to spew out from the pit, where somewhere deep below all the Heartless was one of the many roots of the Great World Tree.

"We gotta buy them time to finish the spell!" Mickey armed the keyblade ready.

Riku nodded and brought his bat-shaped sword out ready. "I'm all for that. Besides, even if I didn't promise Sora, I promised myself that I would keep her safe. I will never break that promise again."

Mickey had a knowing smile but said nothing but nodded. "Let's teach these Heartless a lesson!"

As Mickey and Riku aided to keep the Heartless off Lucille as both her and Florian concentrated on the Union Arte, they managed to complete the arte, putting every fiber of their magical energy into the spell.

"Radiant Dawn!" Lucille and Florian casted in their united voice and then pointed both the Lux Arma and Ava's keyblade directly at the pit of Heartless and fired an all-powerful beam of light into the pit, engulfing the entire room in a blinding light.

 _ **"...Thank you...for ending their endless torment..."**_ They heard a faint but deep voice echo in their heads.

'Is that...the Great World Tree's voice?' Lucille thought in her mind, even though her body felt so tired out that her consciousness faded away.

* * *

 **Epilogue**

* * *

In Hallow Bastion, those that remained in that world, Aster, Ion, Luma, Leon, Aerith, Yuffie Cid and even Moglette and her Synthesis team that moved from Traverse Town to this world, saw small balls of light fall from the sky.

"Ooh, what pretty lights, kupo!" Moglette tried to catch one of them, but they disintegrated in her paws.

"They did it! They must have closed the Door to Darkness!" Luma cheered.

They saw as the world began to change around them, morphing into it used to be before the world's fall. Although most of the place was still in ruins, it now looked more like a city again than the twisted amalgamation that it was before.

"The world still needs time to heal, but I think we'll be able to restore this world back to the way it was if we work together," Ion told Aster.

Aster nodded with a grin. "We won't just restore the world. We'll make it even better than it ever was! You'll see, I'll make this a place where everyone can live in peace and the tragic events of ten years ago will be nothing more than memory."

Ion smiled. "That sounds amazing! I hope Zen comes back to visit us from time to time with his friends."

"They better come back and visit." Aster puffed his cheeks. "We've got a lot to do, but how about we start by founding a new group dedicated to restoring the world? We'll call it the Hallow Bastion Restoration Committee!"

"That's...a mouthful." Luma hummed her thoughts out-loud.

"How about HBRC for short then?" Aster added. "Ooh! We'll have a secret passcode and everything!"

"Okay, I think you're taking this way too far." Leon sighed.

"Oh c'mon, Leon. It's an awesome idea!" Aster argued.

"I wasn't against the restoration committee idea," Leon corrected.

"I hope you plan on counting us in on this committee of yours, your Highness. You might be the next Lord of our kingdom, but even you need help from friends to get this place back to normal." Yuffie grinned.

Aster laughed. "Oh, trust me, you guys were already included."

"Well, good ta hear that, little punk. Ya gonna need an expert like me after all." Cid gave a smug smirk.

"Will Lucille, Florian, Zen and Oswald be added too?" Luma asked Aster.

Aster softly ruffled the girl's head. "Naturally, Sora, Donald and Goofy too. We'll make them all honorary members. I wonder...how Kairi is doing right now. I hope you're happy wherever you are, dearest sister." He smiled softly as he looked up to the sky.

"Uhh...Do we have a base of operations for our committee?" Ion wondered.

"...Oh yeah, that's probably the first thing we should do. Alright, let's get to work everyone!" Aster punched the air.

* * *

In the Sacred Grove, even the Seraphim have noticed the great change that has occurred in the balance.

"It looks like they have managed to pull it off. The Door to Darkness is finally locked away forever. At least it won't be a danger to anyone now. I guess mortals aren't so hopeless after all." Yggdrasil sighed in relief.

"Well, things are looking good for all the worlds that the Heartless previously devoured. A lot of worlds have been released from captivity and are now returning and restoring worlds to their natural state," Kuroshi proudly reported.

"That's good...I've also noticed that the Great World Tree seems...happier. One of its roots must have finally been purified from the corruption created by the Heartless feasting on it."

"Really? How did that happen? Did closing that door also destroy the Heartless in that area?"

"No, it told me that two brave souls decided to use a Union Arte to destroy the Heartless nest that had grown there, freeing the root from their corruption. I'm almost certain it is speaking of Florian and that human girl."

"Her name's Lucille, boss," Kuroshi rolled his eyes.

"I'm a little concerned, though. I can't sense them anymore." Yggdrasil frowned.

"I'm sure they're fine. Maybe the Great World Tree decided to help them escape the realm as thanks for saving one of its roots from the Heartless," Kuroshi guessed.

"And how can you say that with such certainty?" Yggdrasil questioned.

"I know my little Florian." Kuroshi winked. "He'll keep her safe, no matter where they are, and we'll see them again sooner than you think. Just call it a hunch."

* * *

In an unknown area, Ratatosk hummed cheerfully to himself as he saw many stars shoot across the sky like a meteor shower. "Looks like they pulled it off after all, just like I thought they would. Still, I never expected to run into two of the reincarnated Foretellers. It'll be interesting to see what unfolds next." He stretched his arms.

"I'll have to keep a closer eye on that Organization that's been growing in numbers recently, they could prove a problem to my plans if I let them do as they please." Ratatosk asked as he looked up to the sky.

* * *

"Lucille!"

"Lady Lucille, wake up!"

Lucille heard the panicked voices of Florian and Chi echo in the darkness.

 _"C'mon Lucille, you need to get up,"_ Ava also chimed in.

Slowly but surely, Lucile finally opened her eyes. They were a bit blurred at first but once they had sharpened and focused, she saw the two familiar faces of Florian and Chi beside her.

"Thank goodness," Florian sighed in relief.

"Lady Lucille, are you alright? You were asleep for a very long time!" Chi asked.

"Ah...yeah. I'm alright. What happened, though? I could have sworn we were in the Realm of Darkness but..." She'd noticed they were somewhere else entirely. It looked like an endless field of grass.

"That's not all. There's no sign of Riku or King Mickey," Chi informed.

"Aw man, you're saying we're back to square one?" Lucille groaned in annoyance.

As she looked up to the sky she noticed what looked like a meteor shower above them.

"Hey! Look, guys! It's a meteor shower!" She smiled brightly.

"Wow, even from here we can the stars. All those stars are other worlds. It's wonderful to see them light up the sky again." Chi was awed at the sight.

"I remember one time that Sora and Riku smuggled me out of the house so we could look at the meteor shower together that night. This was after my near-drowning experience, so Riku was a bit more watchful over me back then. We promised under that meteor shower that the three of us would leave the islands and explore the outside world together." Lucile smiled sadly at the memory.

"Maybe we should have been careful for what we wished for."

"Lucille..."

Lucille snapped herself out of depression by slapping her face with one of her hands. "Well, that's enough of feeling sorry for myself. I guess we'll just have to find Riku and King Mickey again and escape...where are we anyway?" Lucille declared boldly before looking around their surroundings, trying to figure out just where they'd ended up.

"I don't know...I'm almost certain that Lord Yggdrasil's arte worked and purified one of the Great World Tree's roots. Could we have travelled to another world through the Great World Tree itself?" Florian wondered.

"I thought only hearts could travel through the roots. How could we have used it?" Chi wondered.

Florian shook his head. "To be honest, your guess is as good as mine."

"I hope Zen and Oswald are alright wherever they got washed up, along with Kairi, Sora, Donald and Goofy. Man, I'm so gonna get it from all of them, Sora especially. He'll never let this go."

"Well, it was a pretty reckless choice that we made, but I do feel like we did the right thing. We were right to stay behind, right?" Florian asked.

Lucille nodded. "That's what my heart told me to do. I'm sure that we made the right choice to stay."

"Hmmm, I think I can see something in the distance. Should we go check it out?" Chi pointed to a large castle in the far distance.

"Man, it's gonna take us a while to walk to, but so long as the three of us stay together, we'll be fine." Lucille smiled at Chi and Florian.

Both of them cheerfully nodded.

"Alright! Onwards!" Lucille brightly grinned and started to run across the grassy fields. Florian and Chi followed closely behind her.

The three of them had no idea that a Nobody in a white trench coat was watching them from afar.

"Are they new here?" The Nobody wondered before gasping. "I've got to warn them about Castle Oblivion!" He sprinted after them, a single crystal shard that was tied to one of the Nobody's strands of light green hair by a black string glittering in the starlight as he proceeded to follow after the trio.

* * *

We did it, guys! We've finally reached the end of the KH 1 story arc. Whoooo! \o/

Now onwards to Chain of Memories and I hope you like the little snippets of what is to come in the future. =3

I decided to have the final chapter and epilogue in the same chapter since the epilogue isn't that long, so it doesn't really warrant its own chapter. And I did say this was going to be the final chapter, so adding an extra chapter called the Epilogue would have been weird. XD

I hope that you enjoyed the retelling of the first Kingdom Hearts with the new elements included.

I want to give a huge thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited and alerted this story, as your support has been amazing to give me the willpower to buckle down and get this story done.

I sincerely hope you are looking forward to Chain of Memories, which will be the next arc in our tale. =3 I decided to do Chain of Memories a little differently than what I did for this one.

In this story, Lucille's tale unfolded alongside Sora's, but this time, Lucille's tale in Chain of Memories will take place after Sora and Riku's stories have concluded. So it's going to be an original plot within Castle Oblivion, although Namine and Diz will be making an appearance in it as well. Who knows maybe Riku and Mickey will appear in it too. =3

What will happen when Lucille, Florian and Chi arrive in that castle full of secrets? And who was that Ratatosk fellow?

So many questions yet so little time. XD In any case, I hope that you enjoyed this final chapter and please look forward to Kingdom Hearts: Fragments of Starlight! (that title might change or not. It's kinda a work in progress. XD) I have got the main idea of the story I want to tell, though, so it's just a matter of finding the right title for it. =3

So until the new story, happy reading, folks! Please look forward to what's to come! Moogle Empress, out!

Moogle: Kupo!


	25. Fragments of Starlight Release Note!

**_Fragments of Starlight release and final review corner_**

* * *

Hello everyone, this is Moogle Empress, this is actually isn't a chapter but just like a update and notification for those who have still alerted to this fan fic, it was also an request for one of the reviewers for me to let people know about the new fan fic when it was ready. =D

I'm happy to announce that the first chapter of Kingdom Hearts: Fragments of Starlight is now uploaded and ready for your reading pleasure, it might take time to finish the next chapter but I hope this first one will help you look forward to the new fan fic.

Also, I want to use this opportunity to answer some final questions from the last two chapters before we consider Radiant Dawn-or rather the KH1 Arc finished.

 **Review Corner**

* * *

 **Ctran:** Thank you for your review and I'm glad you are looking forward to the new fan fic. And yup, I wanted to make their time in Castle Oblivion original so I decided to take some liberties and add-on to what we already seen from Sora and Riku's time there.

Who knows though? Maybe we'll see Riku and Mickey back in the castle again? ;) As for the White Nobody, he actually has another purpose that's different from Namine but no less important than Namine. Let's just say his role will remain hidden until say either KH2 or Dream Drop Distance. Might leave some hints here and there though. =3

 **Chirithy546:** Heya, thank you for reviewing. =3 Glad you enjoyed the Aqua chapter. ^-^ And yes I do intend to do BBS. =D How I go about it is another question. XD

 **Guest (1):** A good question, my dear reader. =3 I definitely have plans to add a bunch of disney films that the KH series hasn't actually introduced yet. So Basil the Great Mouse Detective is certainly up for consideration, along with Treasure Planet, the Rescuers, The Black Cauldron, Robin Hood (that one is one of my favorites along with Sleeping Beauty!) etc. If SE won't add them because Disney won't let them, then I'll do it! Hurrah for fan fiction! Expect to see a few of them appearing in KH2, I did say that Lucille and her friends would be exploring their own worlds along with some original ones. =3

 **Gry21:** I know it's late, but Happy Birthday! =D I'm glad that I was able to upload this on the same day. =3 I hope you enjoy it and please look forward to the next fan fic. ^-^

 **Reading Chameleon:** Thank you for reviewing and reading the story! Hope to see more from you and I hope you enjoy the future installments of this universe. =D

* * *

That's all for the last reviews from the previous chapter but thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, alerted and Favorited Radiant Dawn, it makes me happy that people have enjoyed it and supported it throughout all the chapters, I hope to live up to everyone's expectations as the Radiant Dawn Universe continues as we go through all the KH games. =D

If you have any ideas or feedback you like to share, please let me know via review and I'll try to incorporate them as the stories continue.

Please enjoy Kingdom Hearts: Fragments of Starlight, which has now been uploaded with the first chapter and until the next chapter, happy reading everyone!

Moogle Empress out!

Moogle: Kupo!


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